LIONEL MESSI is now the world’s 97th most valuable footballer.
Incredibly, Cristiano Ronaldo finds himself 131th with two of the greatest players of all time both trailing Manchester United bit-part player Daniel James.
Daniel James is worth more than both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, according to the latest CIES Football Observatory studyCredit: Getty Images – Getty
That is according to the latest CIES Football Observatory, whose algorithm uses such factors as performance, age and contract length, as well as club and country represented to determine an individual’s worth.
Their findings placed Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford top of the pile at a whopping £150million, edging out Erling Haaland and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Bruno Fernandes, Kylian Mbappe and Jadon Sancho are also worth in excess of £130m.
But it is the positioning of Messi and Ronaldo that raised plenty of eyebrows.
Argentinian maestro Messi is way down at 97th on the list.
No fewer than TEN Red Devils players are ahead of him – Rashford, Fernandes, Mason Greenwood, Anthony Martial, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Donny van de Beek, James, Harry Maguire, Scott McTominay and Victor Lindelof.
Welshman James is estimated to be valued at £55m, placing him 75th.
In fact, United’s tally of ten players in the top 100 is more than any other club, with Barcelona second on nine.
FREE BETS: GET OVER £2,000 IN SIGN UP OFFERS HERE
But the reason for Messi’s lowly value of £48.8m is due to his contract at Barcelona expiring at the end of the season – meaning the 33-year-old’s value at the moment is almost entirely based on his quality alone.
For Ronaldo, his £42.5m valuation is largely down to the fact he is 35 with little resale opportunity, despite the fact he continues to bang in the goals for fun.
Ronaldo’s former side Real Madrid’s highest-ranked player is Federico Valverde 50th at £67m.
Rodrygo, Vinicius Jr and Casemiro also edge into the top 100.
But there is no place on that list for Neymar or Paul Pogba.
Despite the pair’s latest transfers costing a world record £198m and British record £89m respectively, neither man gets in.
Neymar should be in his prime aged 28 but is only worth between £27m and £36m – in part due to his injury record and contract expiring next year.
For Pogba, 27, he is worth even less at £18m and £27m – presumably due to having 18 months left on his Old Trafford deal and the reality of underwhelming performances in recent years.
Other surprises include Harry Kane (£97m) down in 19th, Virgil van Dijk (£75m) at 39th and 2020’s serial winner Robert Lewandowski (£65m) in 55th, two places ahead of Kevin De Bruyne (£64m).
Nicolas Pepe (£53m) is 86th, some £52m short of Arsenal team-mate Bukayo Saka, while in-form Leicester winger Harvey Barnes completes the 100 at £48m.
The list did not make pretty reading for Ronaldo (131st) or Messi (97th)Credit: Reuters
Paul Pogba, left, did not make the list but Marcus Rashford topped the pile at a valuation of £150mCredit: Reuters
The best players of 2020, according to quantitative analysis from Carteret
Cristiano Ronaldo reveals he finds it boring playing in empty stadiums and misses when fans boo him
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
