Update after the end of the season
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Following the conclusion of the season in Argentina, Transfermarkt has updated the market values of 867 Torneo Clausura players. There are changes at the top: instead of Kevin Lomónaco alone, there is now a trio together at the front. There are also significant adjustments in both directions for River Plate’s Lautaro Rivero, the racing professionals Facundo Cambeses and Marco Di Césare as well as Exequiel Zeballos, Lautaro Di Lollo and Kevin Zenón from the Boca Juniors.
One player who has particularly stood out is goalkeeper Cambeses. Even though the 28-year-old couldn’t prevent Estudiantes from winning the league (5:6 after penalties), his market value increased by 194 percent from 1.7 million to 5 million euros. It is the biggest plus of the update. “After securing the Number 1 spot at Racing, he immediately had a huge impact on the team and is now the most valuable goalkeeper in the league alongside San Lorenzo’s Orlando Gill. This also earned him a call-up to the Argentina national team during the last international break. In my opinion, he has the potential to be part of the World Cup team next year,” says Scott Christensen, Area Manager South America and Argentina at Transfermarkt.
The same cannot be said of his teammate Di Césare, even if his start was promising. “After he moved from Argentinos Juniors to Racing, he became one of the best central defenders in the league,” said Christensen about the 23-year-old, whose performances have been weakening recently. “Apparently Racing had offers from Italy and the Netherlands worth around 8 million euros for Di Césare in the last six months, but they were rejected. Since then, his level has dropped somewhat. Sometimes he wasn’t even in the starting line-up anymore.” As a result, its market value drops from 8 million to 6 million euros.
Lomónaco also received a loss of 2 million euros – the most significant in the league – and is therefore still worth 10 million euros. The 23-year-old central defender from Independiente has to share his place as leader with Vélez Sarsfield’s Maher Carrizo (unchanged) and Racing’s Juan Ignacio Nardoni (-one million euros).
Market values in Argentina: ups and downs at River and Boca
There is both good and bad news for the two big Argentine clubs, River Plate and Boca Juniors. After a disastrous season, River sees 22 players demoted. “Rivero is the only bright spot in this update,” emphasizes Christensen. “The 22-year-old, who was brought back early from his loan spell at Central Córdoba, is a fast and aggressive central defender who can handle the ball very well.” For him it goes up from 4 million to 7 million euros.
At Boca Juniors, the star players also had to cope with ups and downs. The most valuable among them after the update is the 23-year-old attacker Zeballos, whose valuation climbs from 4.5 million to 7 million euros. “After two serious injuries, Zeballos has not only recovered, but is now Boca’s best player in one-on-one situations,” says Christensen. Another teammate with a significant increase in value is Di Lollo (+2 million to 6 million euros). Expert Christensen explains: “He has improved a lot since the first half of the season. Di Lollo is a big and strong central defender who can also join the attack.” The red pen, however, is placed on midfielder Zenón (-1.5 million to 5.5 million euros). “After being the best player a year ago, he had a season to forget. He hardly plays anymore and he lacks self-confidence,” said Christensen.
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).