The 554th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the top ten players by league with the highest transfer value across 55 competitions outside Europe’s big-5. According to our proprietary statistical model, recently updated with the latest transfers and price inflation, FC Porto’s Victor Froholdt has the highest valuation (€83.7 million)

Benfica’s Vangelis Pavlidis (€65.0 m) and Al-Hilal’s Gabriel Martinelli (€63.6 m) round up the podium. In other major leagues, the following players top the list : Club Brugge’s Nicolò Tresoldi in Belgium (€61.4 million), Fenerbahçe’s Mason Greenwood in Turkey (€61.0 million), Palmeiras José Manuel López in Brazil (€53.9 million), and Ajax’s Jorthy Mokio in the Netherlands (€53.4 million).

Diogo Costa (FC Porto) is potentially the most expensive non-big-5 goalkeeper (€49.3 million), as are Gonçalo Inácio (Sporting CP) among centre backs (€57.0 million) and Samuel Dahl (SL Benfica) among wide backs (€52.7 million). This tool lists the top-rated player by club in 70 leagues around the world. A paid platform is also available to football professionals.

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>>> Scientific paper on the method

The 533rd CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the outfield players who have not yet turned 21 and are playing outside Europe’s big-5 having performed best over the past year, based on a score out of 100 calculated from their statistics across eight game areas (Impect data), the number of official minutes played, and the competitive level of these matches.

Argentine Gianluca Prestianni tops the rankings with a score of 86.5 out of 100. The Benfica right winger, whose transfer value as estimated by our statistical model already exceeds €50 million, is ahead of AZ Alkmaar’s midfielder Kees Smit and Dinamo Kyiv centre forward Matviy Ponomarenko. Fourth-placed Tomás Aranda (Boca Juniors) is the highest-ranked player active outside of Europe, ahead of Leonel Flores (River Plate) and Álvaro Montoro (Botafogo).

Serbia’s Vasilije Kostov (Red Star Belgrade) is the youngest player in the top 10 (18.2 years of age). The American Cavan Sullivan (Philadelphia Union, 16.9), his compatriot Adri Mehmeti (New York Red Bulls, 17.4) and the Mexican Gilberto Mora (Club Tijuana, 17.9) are the youngest talents in the top 100. In total, no fewer than 34 leagues are represented in the first 100 positions, with a maximum of 14 players from the Dutch Eredivisie.

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>>> Method to analyse players’ pitch performance

>>> Method to assess matches’ sporting level

>>> More performance data with Impect

>>> New Prospect Sheet : Winsley Boteli 

The 552nd CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks the teams worldwide having invested the most on transfer fees (including add-ons, regardless of effective payment) to sign the players currently in their squads. Liverpool FC (€1.226 billion) has moved up three places compared with the same date last year and now tops the table, replacing Chelsea FC.

Six English clubs occupy the top six places, whilst Real Madrid has overtaken Paris Saint-Germain among teams from other countries. The Post also presents the net transfer spending for both the current calendar year and the last ten transfer windows. For 2026, the values stretch from +€207 million for Paris St-Germain to -€287m for Al-Hilal SFC. Over the last five years, from +€337 million for LOSC Lille to -€873m for Al-Hilal SFC again.

In terms of transfer expenditure only, five English clubs are at the top of the table for both 2026 (Manchester City, Tottenham, Aston Villa, Chelsea and Newcastle) and the last five-year period (Chelsea, Manchester City, Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester United). Brighton & Hove is the only Premier League club with a positive net transfer balance over the last ten transfer windows (+€33m).

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The first CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post for what promises to be an exciting new season ranks teams from 50 top division leagues around the world according to the percentage of domestic league minutes in 2026 by players who had not yet turned 21 at the time of the matches.

Topping the table with 48.1% of minutes by U21s are Danish side FC Nordsjælland. This is a unique team and project, bringing together players trained locally or at the Right to Dream partner academy in Ghana, as well as other talents spotted at a very young age, and also standing out for its highly technical style of play, its ability to generate great transfer fees and its proven results.

RC Strasbourg ranks second (37.9% of minutes by U21s), whilst the Serbian side FK Partizan rounds up the podium (37.0%). Australia’s Melbourne City is the top-ranked team outside of Europe (5th, 32.9%). The City Group’s side are ahead of the Americans of San Diego FC (30.6%), a club also controlled by the owners of FC Nordsjælland, following a similar strategy both technically and demographically.

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>>> Other exclusive demographic data

>>> Last Prospect Sheet with Impect : Givairo Zechiël / Eredivisie

As the transfer window draws to a close – with spending likely to reach record levels – and with most leagues resuming their fixtures following the World Cup, the CIES Football Observatory wishes you a fantastic new football season, with a Prospect Sheet as a gift.

Compiled by combining data generated by us with that collected by our partners at Impect, the analysis focuses on Feyenoord’s Dutchman Gjivai Zechiël, who stands out for his finishing ability. With a contract valid for just two years and an offer approaching his estimated value (€20m), a last-minute transfer is likely.

>>> All Prospect Sheets

We also invite you to make the most of the many other analyses available free of charge on our website, including our tools on demographics, migration, value and performance, and to follow us on social media. Our weekly posts will resume next week. If you wish to unsubscribe or update your subscription details, you can do so via the link below.

Yours in football, the CIES Football Observatory team

With another record-breaking transfer window in full swing, footballers are getting ready to pack their bags. Many of them are already playing outside the countries where they grew up, or are preparing for their first experience abroad. Where do these migrant footballers come from? Where are they going? Covering 135 leagues in 88 countries, this video explores the global geography of migration in football.

The analysis highlights the main exporting countries and migration patterns. From the global presence of Brazilian players to the more regional career paths of French and Argentine footballers, the study sheds light on the structure of the international labour market for professional footballers. The Atlas of Migration provides access to even more data.

The CIES Football Observatory website also provides all football fans with other tools enabling them to access exclusive data on team and player demographics, their performance (in collaboration with Impect) and transfer values (in this regard, a paid platform has been developed for industry professionals).

Make the most of these tools and do spread the word!

>>> Access the video