FOOTBALL is facing an uncertain time due to coronavirus.
All action in Europe’s Big Five leagues was put on hold in March as the virus swept the continent.
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How players’ values have been affected by coronavirus
Some clubs were forced to furlough staff, others asked players to take a pay cut.
While Bundesliga football is back, with Premier League, LaLiga and Serie A soon to follow, Ligue 1 opted to cancel their season.
Of course, anything can happen – with all Big Five leagues still potentially being shut down if another major outbreak hits.
Some clubs are struggling to make ends meet with no fans at stadiums and some commercial deals being axed.
And because of that, ALL of football’s top stars have seen their transfer value plummet since March.
We’ve taken a look at what the top ten most valuable players in the world were worth before lockdown – as well as if the season is cancelled and if it’s continued.
Paris Saint-Germain boast the two most expensive players on the planet at present in Kylian Mbappe and Neymar.
Before lockdown, Mbappe was valued at a would-be world record £200million, with Neymar at £156m.
If the Ligue 1 season had continued those numbers would have dropped to £167m and £133m respectively, according to accounting giant KPMG.
But as the 2019-20 campaign was axed, Mbappe is now worth just £158m, with Neymar seeing his value dip to £122m – both drops of over 21 per cent.
Barcelona star Lionel Messi – whose clause allowing him to quit the club for free has now expired – is the star whose value has been worst-affected by coronavirus, though.
The Argentine legend, 32, has seen 27.5 per cent of his value slashed, totalling £43m.
Messi was worth £156m before the pandemic struck, with that dropping to £113m now if the season is cancelled.
Raheem Sterling has moved up a place from fourth most-valuable in the world to third due to Messi’s drop-off.
The England star has lost a much smaller chunk of his worth, at just 13.8 per cent if the Premier League season is scrapped.
From the KPMG data it would appear the older a player is, the more value is lost due to coronavirus.
The likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane – all in their late 20s – have seen cuts of around 20 per cent.
Meanwhile, players such as Jadon Sancho, 20, and Marcus Rashford, 21, would lose a shade over ten per cent of their overall worth if the season were to be axed.
Even if the season was cancelled, Salah would be rated as the fifth-most expensive player in the world, ahead of Sancho in sixth.
Real Madrid target, and team-mate of Salah, Mane sits seventh ahead of Harry Kane – who could finally quit Tottenham this summer.
De Bruyne and Rashford complete the top ten, both valued at less than £100m if the seasons is called off.
Real Madrid to offer Eden Hazard for Kylian Mbappé as part of stunning swap deal to finally seal PSG striker’s transfer, report says
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
