Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold and Man Utd midfielder Bruno Fernandes join Marcus Rashford in the top five, where Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland and Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe also feature as per CIES Football Observatory
Wednesday 6 January 2021 18:46, UK
Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford has been ranked as the most valuable footballer in Europe's major leagues by research group CIES Football Observatory.
The biannual list of the 'big-five' league players with the greatest transfer values factors in age and contract length.
Rashford's estimated value is £150.1m given the 23-year-old England international has more than two years remaining on his current contract, plus the option of a further year.
Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold (£137.4m) is third on the list behind Borussia Dortmund forward Erling Haaland (£137.8m), while Rashford's team-mate Bruno Fernandes is fourth (£136.9m).
Kylian Mbappe (£135.4m) had previously headed the list, but with 18 months left on his current deal the Paris Saint-Germain striker's estimated value has seen him drop to fifth.
England trio Jadon Sancho, Raheem Sterling and Bukayo Saka have all been deemed to have values of more than £100m, with Mason Mount, Harry Kane and Mason Greenwood all above the £90m-mark.
There is no place in the top 100 for Cristiano Ronaldo (£42.6m), the 35-year-old Juventus forward is 131st due to his expiring contract in June 2022, while 33-year-old Lionel Messi (£48.9m) is 97th given his deal at Barcelona runs out this summer.
Taking CIES' values into consideration and using a 4-3-3 formation, Manchester City's Ederson would feature as the goalkeeper having been valued at £72.14m.
Ahead of him, Alexander-Arnold would be right-back, Bayern Munich's Alphonso Davies (£126.2m) left-back, with Manchester City's Ruben Dias (£114.9m) and Juventus' Matthijs de Ligt (£94.3m) the centre-back pairing.
Fernandes is the highest-valued midfielder, with CIES listing Chelsea's attacking midfielders of Kai Havertz (£122.4m) and Mount second and third respectively.
The highest defensive midfielder on the list is Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong (£95.8m), with City's Rodri valued at £88.5m.
Up front would be the trio of Rashford, Haaland and Mbappe.
The winter transfer window is open until Monday February 1 at 11pm.
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