165 players updated
© TM/Imago
After completing the transfer activities in Europe’s top leagues, Transfer market has updated the market values of 165 players in the Major League Soccer. The focus of this intermediate update is on newcomers and players who were the focus of transfer rumors. The affected players also include Rodrigo de Paul, the star access of Inter Miami, who has lost his status as the most valuable professional of the MLS.
“Although he was a regular at Atlético Madrid, De Paul decided to switch from the Laliga to a weaker league, namely the MLS,” explains Dominic Becker, data administrator North America at the transfer market. “The purchase option in his contract is only 18 million euros. Therefore, a downgrading was inevitable.” Against this background, TM has reduced its market value from 25 million to EUR 20 million – which represents the greatest devaluation as part of this update. Despite the decline, midfielder de Paul remains the most valuable player in the league together with Riqui Puig and new signing.
Technically speaking, the new LAFC star Son should have experienced a downgrade. But his transfer fee of EUR 22 million, the unprecedented sales boom for his LAFC jersey, the commercial effects on the very large Korean community in Los Angeles and his services on the pitch have led to the fact that Sons market value remains at EUR 20 million for the time being. In fact, the 33-year-old performed well on the pitch and scored a goal and two templates in his first four MLS games.
MLS market values: Youngster Vargas in the upswing and in demand abroad
One of the big winners of the MLS update is OBED Vargas, midfielder of Seattle Sunders, whose market value is raised by 2 million to now 8 million euros. “It is difficult to imagine the midfield of the Sounders without the player from Anchorage (Alaska),” says Becker. “At the age of 20 he was an absolute key player and top performer for his team. This summer, Tigres was ready to pay $ 10 million for the midfielder, but the SUORDER rejected the offer. There is a strong market for him. European teams will also have an eye on him.” TM assumes that Vargas’ career plan will prefer to switch to Europe rather than Mexico. The family therefore examines options for a winter transfer and prefers a change to the German Bundesliga.
Vargas is one of many young players in the MLS that you have to have on the note. North of the Seattle border, in Vancouver, whitecaps are making progress at the top of the Western Conference. The commitment of Bavaria and DFB icon Thomas Müller recently caused a sensation for the club from British Columbia. The hype also means that young Whitecaps players have landed on the Radar of European clubs, including the Canadian international Ali Ahmed. After transfer market information, the 24-year-old received an offer from the second division Schalke 04 in the summer. The royal blue were ready to pay a considerable amount for Ahmed, but the offer was rejected by the white caps. Transfer market assumes that the sum offered was above its current market value – Ahmed therefore experiences an increase of 3 million to EUR 3.5 million.
While the market values of Vargas and Ahmed are influenced by possible future transfers, the evaluation of players such as the Palestinian striker Wessam Abou Ali was controlled by the recently paid transfer fee of EUR 6.4 million. “The 26-year-old was a constant scorer for his former clubs,” explains TM expert Becker. “Columbus Crew paid a lot of money for his goal balance in the hope that he would continue. Other examples for players whose market values are adapted for the removal: Djordje Mihailovic from Toronto FC (+1.5 million to 6.5 million euros), Nicolás Fernández Mercau from NYCFC (+2 million to 6 million euros) and Adilson Malanda from Charlotte FC (+2 million to 6 million euros), for 6.9 million. Euro sold to Middlesbrough and laid back immediately.
Surridge and Owusu among MLS winners-La Galaxy disappointed
Some established MLS players were also able to record a market value plus thanks to the outstanding services. Sam Surridge, striker of Nashville SC. “Surridge is a prime example of the thesis that some players need time to get used to the MLS,” said Becker. “After a tough start, he had a good season last year. This year he took a big step forward and leads the scorer list in front of Messi. If he holds this level, it would not be a surprise if he could return to one of the five best leagues in Europe.” Surridge has scored 20 goals in 29 MLS games this season, which increases its market value of 5 million euros to EUR 7 million.
The German center forward Prince Owusu netted 16 times in 35 games for the CF Montreal and earns a plus of 500,000 euros to EUR 2.5 million. “I always knew about my quality and it was also my goal to gradually set fragrance brands. It was all the more beautiful that it worked so quickly,” the 28-year-old told the transfer market at the end of July.
In the meantime, the Austin professionals Brandon Vazquez and Myrto Uzuni are part of the category of market value losers. Both were obliged to record records before the season, but mostly remained pale. After a weak year in Mexico, Vazquez scored five goals in 19 MLS games in the regular season and fails for a long time because of a cruciate ligament tear. Uzuni is now 30 years old and his five goals and three templates in 23 games are manageable in view of its transfer fee of EUR 12 million. As a result, both players were downgraded to 7 million euros for 500,000 euros.
However, they are not the only ones. While La Galaxy qualified for the Concacaf Champions Cup in the Leagues Cup in the Leagues Cup next season, the MLS Cup winner of the last season played a catastrophic season in the league. Galaxy is currently in the last place in the Western Conference with only 20 points from 22 games. As a result, the Galaxy stars Gabriel PEC (-2 million to 8 million euros) and Joseph Paintsil (-one million to EUR 7 million) learn some of the greatest deviations on the MLS update.
This is how the transfer market market values work
The transfer market market values are taken into account, taking into account various pricing models and a strong inclusion of the transfer market community, which deals with the values in detailed discussions. The transfer market values are not to be equated with the transfer sums actually paid.
The goal is not to predict a price, but an expectation value. When collecting the market value, both individual transfer modalities and situational framework conditions are relevant to a certain extent. Examples are listed here. Transfer market does not use algorithm (for detailed market value definition).