La Liga contains four of the five most valuable players in the world, a study has found, placing Neymar at the top of the tree ahead of Lionel Messi, Paul Pogba, and Antoine Griezmann.
The Brazilian attacker isn’t on the best of form in the early weeks of 2017 but his youth and strong goalscoring record help place him amongst two of the Ballon d’Or top three and the world’s most expensive player.
CIES Football Observatory has formulated an algorithm that takes into account numerous factors from contract length to age and goals to the ability of rival clubs to sign them, giving Neymar a worth of 246.8 million euros.
Following closely behind are Messi (170.5m euros), Pogba (155.3m euros), and Griezmann (150.4m euros) after the forward rocketed up the footballing ladder during the past 12 months with stellar performances for France and Atletico Madrid, signing a new deal with the Colchoneros.
Luis Suarez arrives in fifth (145.2m euros), before Harry Kane (139.2m euros) and Cristiano Ronaldo (126.5m euros), with Atleti goalkeeper Jan Oblak the most valuable shot-stopper in world football at 59.8m euros.
The Swiss lab also put 42 Premier League players inside the top 100, with Gareth Bale missing out on the top 10 with a value of just 84m euros – less than what Real Madrid paid for the winger.
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