An example of this are the highs of Ronaldo and Messi, which were beaten by a long way today. Over 20 players have now reached the 100 million mark, which was still a unique selling point back then. I would venture to estimate that both would be worth over €200 million at their peak today.
As I said: this is not complaining, not criticism, not belittling, but just the first thoughts that came to mind. In itself it clearly shows how much the French have developed. I find it even more remarkable that there are only 2 French people in the current top 10, even though they have a fairly high average value compared to other nations. Not even the Spaniards come close, even the Brazilians and Argentines only have one player each with a market value of at least 100 million. England also fails to break through the 2018 markets.
I would be interested to know how the French would be quantified at the turn of the millennium in today’s terms. At that time they were also represented in a number of top teams and won numerous titles, including the double of world and European champions back to back. Or just the Spaniards around the 2010s, that would give the statistics even more importance in terms of quality.