Red Bull dominates
RB Salzburg remains the measure of all things in the Austrian Bundesliga. For years, the majority of the players in the series champion have been upgraded in the market value updates, and it rarely goes down due to the sales that often follow. This is also the case in the most recent complete update: central defender Strahinja Pavlovic alone recorded a plus of 12 million euros – a sum that is higher than the squad value of six Bundesliga clubs.
Pavlovic came from AS Monaco in the summer for 7 million euros and is now showing the quality in Austria that he was actually expected to have in France. In January 2020, the Serb switched from Partizan Belgrade to the Principality as an 18-year-old for €10 million, but was unable to assert himself there in the long term. Things are going better in Salzburg now, as market value admin “Saviola92” explains: “Pavlovic showed outstanding performances, especially in the Champions League, and asserted himself against strong competition in his own squad such as Oumar Solet, Maximilian Wöber and Kamil Piatkowski. After only six months at Red Bull there are rumors about the next transfer: Juventus should be interested, it’s about a fee in the region of 25 million euros.
From 8 million it goes up significantly to 20 million euros. This puts Pavlovic on par with teammates Nicolas Seiwald (21), Luka Sucic (20) and soon-to-be Leipziger Benjamin Sesko (19). The trio that previously shared the top spot in the league remains unchanged, slipping to shared second place. The new leader is Noah Okafor, who jumps from 18 to 25 million euros.
Okafor now in first place: The most valuable players in the Austrian Bundesliga
“Okafor took the next step in his development this season. Among other things, thanks to three Champions League goals from the Swiss, Salzburg overwinters in the Europa League, plus eight points in the Bundesliga. If the 22-year-old continues like this, the move to a top club should only be a matter of time,” says Dorian Schuster, TM Area Manager Austria. In the ranking of the most valuable Swiss, the World Cup participant jumps to third place behind Premier League pros Manuel Akanji (€30m) and Granit Xhaka (€28m).
Other upgrades in the Salzburg squad include Maurits Kjaergaard (+5 to €15m), Oumar Solet (+3 to €15m), Amar Dedic (+3 to €10m), Lucas Gourna-Douath (+2 to €12m) and Junior Adamu (+2 to €8m). Goalkeeper Philipp Köhn is also on the rise, with his market value increasing to EUR 4 million. “The example of Patrick Pentz shows that ÖBL goalkeepers hardly have a market in Europe. A market assessment of Köhn is therefore difficult, also because there has not been a comparable case with the Salzburgers so far,” Schuster explains the rather small increase in market value in view of the services.
Away from the league leaders, who have the 17 most valuable players and Sekou Koita (-2 to €6m), the biggest devaluation in the league, the changes at SK Sturm Graz stand out. Alexander Prass (+€1m) and Jon Gorenc Stankovic (+€0.5m) together with Keito Nakamura (+€0.5m) are now the most valuable non-Salzburg players. In addition, 19-year-old William Böving, who came from FC Copenhagen for EUR 2.2 million in the summer, has jumped from EUR 2.5 million to EUR 3 million. “You can see the massive potential of the young Dane, but he’s not yet a regular player, which is why there hasn’t been a really big evaluation,” explains Schuster. The yield of four goals in 17 games is still expandable.
Dominik Fitz from Austria Wien is an indispensable part of the first eleven. “Together with Matthias Braunöder, the 23-year-old is the best player in the otherwise disappointing season of the violets. The duo could not prevent the clear elimination in the Conference League, but thanks to the two midfielders they are seventh in the league,” said Schuster. Fitz increases by EUR 1.2 to 2 million and Braunöder increases by EUR 0.5 to 3.5 million.
The only slight or non-existent market value adjustments of the two top scorers appear surprising at first glance: Markus Pink from Austria Klagenfurt, the most accurate player in the league with twelve goals, goes up from 600,000 to 700,000 euros, the former St. Pauli Striker Guido Burgstaller remains at 900,000 euros despite ten goals. This can be explained with the advanced age of the footballer of 31 or 33 years. In this age group, a lack of devaluation is equivalent to an upgrade.
This is how the Transfermarkt market values work
The Transfermarkt market values are created taking into account various pricing models and a strong involvement of the Transfermarkt community, which deals with the values in detailed discussions. The transfer market market values are not to be equated with the transfer fees actually paid.
The goal is not to predict a price, but an expected value. When determining the market value, both individual transfer modalities and situational framework conditions are relevant to a certain extent. Examples of this are listed here. Transfermarkt does not use an algorithm (for detailed market value definition).
To home page