Our friends at "Transfermarket" have written an interesting article on what they consider the "10 most valuable players in World Football". But what is the meaning of value? I have looked up a few sites of reference & there are numerous definitions that cover every facet of life ( political, cultural, religious...economic). For such a simple 5 letter word we find a varying amount of interpretations. Here are three I have selected:
- Economic value is a measure of the benefit that an economic actor can gain from either a good or service. It is generally measured relative to units of currency, and the interpretation is therefore "what is the maximum amount of money a specific actor is willing and able to pay for the good or service"?
- The value of an asset deriving from its ability to generate income.
- The value or worth that a product or service would bring to someone if sold.
Therefore something is valuable if it can generate a benefit (emotionally & monetary ) & if it is perceived as being valuable, this last part is subjective, what is valuable to me may not be for you. Thus the "market" via supply & demand sets the price as many free willed & rational actors mix their perceptions & bid for the good or service. This is the theory of course, but prices can also be "inflated" (artificially) by nothing less than expectations (individual or collective),fashions & by pure emotions. Difficult to get your teeth around this word "value".
Lets assume for the sake of simplicity that value is the amount some actor is willing to pay according to the benefits the asset can generate ( in Football, victory & titles , which is in turn to generate more money). Thus the following figures are close to accurate numbers given experience ( victories, titles & money generated ) & actual commented offers.
The Top 10 most valuable players are:
Lionel Messi: FC Barcelona €120,000,000
Cristiano Ronaldo: Real Madrid €100,000,000
Andres Iniesta: Barcelona €70,000,000
Wayne Rooney: Manchester United €65,000,000
Ramadel Falcao: At. Madrid €60,000,000
Cesc Fabregas: FC Barcelona €55,000,000
Neymar: Santos €50,000,000
Edinson Cavani: Napoli €45,000,000
Sergio Aguero: Manchester City €45,000,000
Robin van Persie: Manchester United €45,000,000
FC Barcelona player Lionel Messi tops the list, I think mosr will agree. The highest Spaniard is Andres Iniesta & second is Cesc Fabregas both from FC Barcelona. Spanish Football in total has 5 out of the 10 on the list.
