In the Bundesliga
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17 of the 20 biggest market value winners in the 2025 Bundesliga are not older than 23 years, only six are defenders and FC Bayern has the most with four, ahead of RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen with three each. In order to make it into the top 20, an increase of at least 18 million euros was necessary in the last twelve months.
With an increase of a whopping 65 million euros, the biggest market value winner this year is Bavaria’s Michael Olise, who doubled his valuation in 2025. At 130 million euros, the 24-year-old winger, along with his teammate Jamal Musiala, are the most highly valued professionals in German football’s upper house. Olise delighted with 21 goals and 28 assists in 57 appearances – in an international comparison of the top 5 leagues including cup competitions, only Kylian Mbappé and Harry Kane had more scorers.
Lennart Karl’s form curve also only knew one direction – just like his market value. On June 15th, the teenager made his debut for the Munich professionals at the Club World Cup, after which he received a starting value of 1.5 million euros. But this only lasted a few months. It first rose to 20 million euros in October, before a 200 percent increase to 60 million euros followed in December. Since market values were introduced on Transfermarkt in 2004, there has not been a major upgrade within an update.
“The 17-year-old established himself in the Bayern team within a few weeks and showed that he is one of the most exciting players of the season. He was also able to score in three consecutive games in the Champions League – no one at his age has ever done that,” said market value coordinator Tobias Kröger about the attacking midfielder, who is now the most valuable footballer up to the age of 17. Apart from Olise, only one other footballer in the world, Nick Woltemade, exceeds his total annual gain of 60 million euros.
Market value winner Bundesliga 2025: Lots of summer newcomers
While the Bayern duo stand out in the Bundesliga and internationally, there are four other big winners with increases of at least 30 million euros: RB Leipzig’s Yan Diomande (+45 million), 1. FC Köln’s Said El Mala (+39 million), Eintracht Frankfurt’s Can Uzun (+33 million) and Luka Vuskovic (+30 million) from Hamburger SV. With Diomande, El Mala and Vuskovic, there are three Bundesliga newcomers who made an immediate impact. Uzun moved to SGE in 2024, but only celebrated his breakthrough this season.
Player comparison
€40.00 million
Market value
€40.00 million
Left winger
position
Central defender
June 30, 2030
Contract until
June 30, 2026
For the complete player comparison
El Mala and Vuskovic also set new records for their clubs and became the most valuable FC and HSV professional in Transfermarkt’s market value history with 40 million euros each. “We are very happy about Said’s sporting development. Despite the attention, he remains extremely focused, works with high intensity in every training session and is very willing to learn. This is reflected in his performances in the Bundesliga as well as in the nomination for the U21 and the invitation to the senior national team. At the same time, his development is far from complete – we are all the more pleased to be able to continue to accompany him with us,” FC sports director Thomas Kessler told Transfermarkt.
HSV director Claus Costa also made an exclusive statement: “Despite his young age, Luka is a complete professional and works very meticulously on details. He knows exactly what he needs for his body and his game. Luka has a very high willingness to learn, you can tell that he wants to improve every day. You can see his sporting qualities on the pitch. He finds a good mix of the necessary calm and the necessary aggressiveness. Against the ball, he impresses with his header game and his robustness in the ball He is very careful with the ball and has a high quality of passing. In addition, he is extremely important for us when it comes to both defensive and offensive set pieces.
Upamecano Oldest among top winners – biggest loser is a man from Bremen
The oldest among the 20 professionals who saw the biggest increase is Munich central defender Dayot Upamecano, aged 27, who increased by 20 million to 70 million euros in 2025. The German record champions have been negotiating an extension with the Frenchman for months. As long as this is not sealed, Upamecano remains the world’s most valuable player with a contract that ends next summer. The Bayern quartet in the top 20 also includes Tom Bischof (+28 million), Leipzig as the second strongest force is also represented by Diomande with Rômulo (+26.3 million) and new DFB international Assan Ouédraogo (+18 million). The Werkself also have a trio consisting of new signings Christian Kofane (+22 million), Ernest Poku (+18.5 million) and Jarell Quansah (+18 million).
With Karim Coulibaly (+20 million), Werder Bremen is also one of the biggest winners, but in the ranks of the green-whites there is also the player with the most significant minus in 2025. Victor Boniface stormed for the then champions Bayer Leverkusen a year ago, before moving to Bremen on loan on deadline day in the summer after a failed transfer to AC Milan. Valued at 45 million euros in January, the 24-year-old is still worth 12 million euros after three devaluations in a row. Boniface didn’t score once in eleven games for the Hanseatic League.
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 will be here listed. Transfermarkt does not use an algorithm (for a detailed definition of market value).