young football players are rising in price at an unimaginable rate

The research company CIES Football Observatory has published an interesting ranking of young football players who have risen in price more than others over the past six months. At the top of the list, the young Barcelona forward Lamin Yamal, who is under 17 years old, has risen in price by €134 million in six months and is now valued at €145 million. In general, if you go by CIES calculations, youth in football is rising in price at an amazing rate. There are several more football players in the ranking who have increased their value by €70 million or more.

Research company CIES Football Observatory has released a ranking of the estimated value of young (under 23 years old) football players. The emphasis in it was not on the player’s price as such, but on its positive dynamics. It turned out to be quite an interesting picture. Thus, Barcelona forward Lamin Yamal, who will only turn 17 in the summer (he played his debut match for the Catalans on April 29, 2023 at the age of 15 years and 290 days, which is a club record, and made his debut in the Spanish national team at the age of 16 and 57 days, which is also a record), just six months ago CIES was valued at only €11 million. Now CIES experts have valued it at €145 million, that is, in six months the player has risen in price by €134 million. It must be said that this is a killer indicator , which would be the envy of many recognized football stars. For example, Real Madrid forward 20-year-old Jude Billingham (according to Transfermarkt, he is worth €180 million) has reached his current price in more than four years. He started with a cost of €2.5 million in the fall of 2019 at Birmingham, and approached the €120 million mark in the summer of 2023, when he had already made a name for himself in Borussia Dortmund and moved to Real Madrid. Lamin Yamal has not moved anywhere yet, a year ago few people knew him at all, but in a very short time he managed to attract close attention.

Let us note that in the CIES rankings, and in addition to Yamal, there are many players who have distinguished themselves by a strong increase in value, although they are still far from reaching the level of the Spanish prodigy. For example, 19-year-old Benfica midfielder Joao Neves has risen in price by €73 million and is now valued at €105 million; Brazilian forward of Girona Savio Moreira (20 years old) grew by €70 million, to €79 million (that is, he has risen in price more than eight times); 21-year-old Chelsea midfielder Cole Palmer also added €70 million and is now worth €117 million. But they are all players who have already proven themselves in European football in one way or another. But Palmeiras striker Endrik, who is in sixth place, has not yet shown anything in the Old World. The forward was booked by Real Madrid back in 2022, who agreed to pay €35 million for him. However, he will be able to join Madrid only in July 2024, when he turns 18, since Brazilian laws restrict international transfers of minor players. So, without having played a single match for Real, Endrick’s price rose to €90 million. At the same time, the increase in his value over the last six months amounted to €54 million. It is not difficult to imagine to what heights his valuation will reach if he has everything in Madrid will work out.

The current CIES ranking is quite consistent with the data from a study conducted by the same organization last year. It summarized transfer data in club football over the decade, from 2014 to 2023. One of the conclusions was that clubs are increasingly paying attention to young players. In particular, the authors of the study found that if ten years ago the share of funds spent by teams on acquiring players aged 21 years and younger was 23.6%, then according to the results of the 2023 summer transfer campaign it reached 29.6%. It was also noted that until the season that began in 2018, that is, the last pre-pandemic season, the demand for young football players increased at a rather modest pace. But in the last couple of years it has increased dramatically.

Alexander Petrov