Winners from Mbappé to Vermeeren
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According to this market value update, the French Ligue 1 has for the first time a top trio that is valued in the three-digit million range. The midfield duo Vitinha and João Neves from Paris Saint-Germain overtakes teammate Ousmane Dembélé, takes the lead and, from a Portuguese perspective, even competes with Cristiano Ronaldo. The Champions League winner jumps to fourth place in the list of the most valuable teams. Parisian hegemony continues to prevail in the Ligue 1 ranking: the 15 most valuable players only include three who are not in Luis Enrique’s squad. Top talent Ayyoub Bouaddi from LOSC Lille is new.
Neves and Vitinha now belong to a group of 19 players worldwide who have a market value of at least 100 million euros. They each jump by 20 million to 110 million euros, making them the biggest winners of the update and overtaking Dembélé, who remains at 100 million euros after winning the Ballon d’Or despite injury concerns. This means that the national players are only 10 million euros behind the Portuguese all-time record set by Ronaldo in 2014.
Ronan Caroff, Area Manager France at Transfermarkt, says about the new top duo: “In many statistics they belong to Europe’s elite, Neves now also has strong scoring values for a central midfielder: nine goals and two assists in 17 club and international games. And he has only just turned 21 years old. Vitinha has a strengthened status as vice-captain and is proving to be a pacesetter on the six with regular goal assists – eight already this season. Of the PSG stars have the strongest drive and deserve to be at the top of the league together.” PSG paid a transfer fee of 106.5 million euros for the duo.
Not only because of the increases for Vitinha and Neves, PSG’s squad value has been catapulted by 38 million to 1.185 billion euros, putting it in fourth place in the global rankings, just ahead of Chelsea (1.184 billion). There are also devaluations for the defending champions for players like Lucas Hernández (-5 to 20 million), Gonçalo Ramos (-5 to 35 million), Lucas Chevalier (-5 to 35 million), Matvey Safonov (-6 to 12 million) and Ilya Zabarnyi (-5 to 50 million), but also two big winners from the U20 age group.
The only 17-year-old striker Ibrahim Mbaye increases by 10 million to 25 million euros, which puts him at the top in the U18 age group for the time being. The 19-year-old all-rounder Senny Mayulu even increased by 15 million to 40 million euros after an increase of 10 million euros in October.
“Mayulu has left his status as a ‘super sub’ of last season behind him and has been in the starting line-up for the majority of his appearances this season,” explains France expert Caroff. “He moved from his usual place in midfield to the unexpected but well-thought-out position of striker and was usually preferred to the trained nine Ramos. His statistics could be more impressive, but he has an influence in important games, such as against Barcelona in the Champions League or against Strasbourg and Rennes. With his contract expiring in 18 months, he will soon have to make a decision: either he commits to his first professional club long-term or he explores new options, of which there will certainly be many.”
RC Strasbourg gains more squad value than PSG
By far the youngest team in the top 5 leagues, RC Strasbourg Alsace (average age: 22.7 years), makes the biggest statement in terms of squad value ahead of PSG. The Alsatians, partner club of Chelsea FC, increased by 39.2 million to 317.5 million euros and are therefore – before the Bundesliga update on December 19th – in the neighborhood of VfB Stuttgart (339 million). The biggest RC winners are Valentín Barco (+10 million to 25 million euros) and Joaquín Panichelli (+13 to 25 million).
The latter was still active in the Spanish second division last season. According to Caroff, he performed well there with 21 goals and 44 games, but it was not foreseeable “that he would settle in so quickly in Strasbourg. A highlight was certainly his brace in the 3-3 draw against PSG, which may have convinced the Argentine national team to call him up for the first time last month. He has proven that he is worth more than his 17 million euro transfer fee from the summer.”
Not just in Strasbourg: Talent development in Ligue 1 will also be at a top level in 2025/26. In addition to the players already mentioned, Rennes professionals Jérémy Jacquet (+8 to 20 million) and Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal (+8.5 to 10 million), Robinio Vaz from Olympique Marseille (+6 to 10 million) and Tylel Tati from FC Nantes (+4 to 10 million) are also among the winners. They are all a maximum of 20 years old.
Lille’s 18-year-old Moroccan international Bouaddi is even advancing into the top 15 of Ligue 1, which is dominated by PSG, with his increase of 10 million to 40 million euros. “After a quieter second half of the 2024/25 season, he is now back in top form,” says Caroff. “It’s hard to imagine the starting XI without him. Despite the many rumors – from Bayern to Chelsea to PSG – the Dogues were able to secure a contract extension until 2029 at the beginning of the month. The interest from the top teams will certainly not disappear and there could be a bidding war from now on. Lille is known for not selling its top players cheaply.”
Mbappé’s younger brother among market value winners in Ligue 1
Bouaddi’s teammates also include one with a very prominent name: Ethan Mbappé. The 18-year-old midfielder increases by 4 million to 9 million euros. Caroff reasons: “With a family name like that, it’s really hard to go your own way. Ethan and Kylian went their separate ways in the summer of 2024: the world champion moved to Real Madrid, the younger one to LOSC Lille. There he slowly developed further, but was set back by persistent calf injuries, the longest of which kept him out of action from the end of April to the beginning of September. But now he seems to be fit again and is making good use of the playing time that Bruno Génésio is giving him. It is likely that he will take on more and more responsibility. He is in an excellent position to develop at his own pace, away from the constant spotlight of his brother.”
In addition to Lille, PSG’s biggest title rivals this season are Olympique Marseille and RC Lens. In the latter case, midfielder Mamadou Sangaré – the second most expensive departure in Rapid Vienna’s club history – is one of the top performers and will be raised by 7 million to 15 million euros. His Austrian teammate Samson Baidoo gains 4 million and is now valued at 12 million euros. They are the most valuable Lens professionals. At OM this is by far top scorer Mason Greenwood, who, after an increase of 10 million euros, has reached his highest market value from his Manchester days – 50 million euros – and is the most valuable professional in France apart from PSG.
One of the winners at the OM is midfielder Arthur Vermeeren, who came from RB Leipzig on loan with an option to buy in the summer and is worth from 22 million to 28 million euros.
Caroff on the Belgian: “Roberto De Zerbi has tried a lot since his arrival in Marseille, but behind his key player Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Vermeeren is becoming increasingly important compared to his competitors Angel Gomes and Matt O’Riley, both of whom are slightly downgraded. After his late arrival on August 31st, he was initially used less, but is now a regular player, especially in the premier class. There is a purchase option of 20 million in his loan contract Euros included, and after this first half of the season it would be logical for OM to make an effort to sign him for the next few seasons.”
The biggest loser of the update is known like Sangaré and Baidoo from the ÖBL: Mika Biereth. The 22-year-old striker has lost his touch for goal at AS Monaco after an outstanding first half of the year and has only scored two goals and has also lost his starting place in the Danish national team for the time being. Biereth is downgraded by 8 million to 22 million euros.
This is how transfer market market values work
The transfer market market values are created taking into account various pricing models as well as a strong involvement of the transfer market community, which deals with the values in detailed discussions. The transfer market market values cannot generally be equated with the transfer fees actually paid.
The goal is not to predict a price, but rather an expected value. When determining the market value, both individual transfer modalities and situational conditions are relevant to a certain extent. Examples of this are listed here. Transfermarkt does not use an algorithm (for detailed market value definition).