The most valuable footballer for every age 16-42

Matt Stead

A footballer for every age. We have used transfermarkt is our guide though their valuations are on the low side so we have taken the order but not the numbers…

 

16: Rayan Cherki (Lyon)
One of the reasons why Lyon are willing to sell Houssem Aouar is the emergence of this fella. Just 16 and he has already played 12 times for the senior Lyon side. Oh and he netted five goals in four UEFA Youth League games this season.

 

17: Eduardo Camavinga (Rennes)
Born in Angola to Congolese parents but already a France Under-21 international at the age of 17, Camavinga – a defensive midfielder – has already played a barely believable 43 games for his club. Real Madrid are sniffing around like truffle pigs.

 

18: Mason Greenwood (Manchester United)
It’s been said a billion times that Greenwood is the most natural finisher at Manchester United; he has already scored 12 senior goals after excelling at every junior level. He is absolutely the realest of deals.

 

19: Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund)
The one that got away from Manchester United, Norwegian striker Haaland has now scored a ridiculous 13 goals in 12 appearances for Borussia Dortmund despite not really looking like a footballer. What a bargain. What a player.

 

20: Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund)
The one that Manchester United cannot afford to allow to get away this summer, England winger Sancho is a player of phenomenal talent and unimaginable promise. 14 goals and 16 assists in 24 Bundesliga games this season makes him so good that United are the only Premier League team who will pay the price.

 

21: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Probably the most valuable player in world football, Mbappe is the heir apparent to the thrones of Ronaldo and Messi. He has scored 90 goals in 120 games for PSG, who would want over £200m even in the ‘current climate’.

 

22: Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan)
Lautaro Martinez is surely bound for Lionel Messi’s Barcelona and Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni could not be more pleased: “We would like that. They have already played together in the national team. For me as [Argentina] coach, and for the national team, the more games they play, the better.” Martinez has already scored nine in 17 for his country so they are understandably giddy.

 

23: Frenkie De Jong (Barcelona)
Firmly established in the Barcelona midfield after his £65m transfer from Ajax, De Jong is an astonishing footballer with a vision and intelligence that belies his years. We think the Dutchman might be ever so slightly better than Declan Rice.

 

24: Leroy Sane (Manchester City)
He is desperate to join Bayern and they are desperate to sign him and yet Leroy Sane somehow remains at Manchester City, a terrible injury delaying a transfer that seems ultimately inevitable. Liverpool have enquired and been rebuffed, according to reports. Will Bayern pay the asking price?

 

25: Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
A lack of Sane had left Sterling overburdened this season; he has already played over 3000 minutes of football for his club. It certainly showed with some tired performances after Christmas but he has still logged double figures for Premier League goals for the third successive season.

 

26: Harry Kane (Tottenham)
An astonishing record of 181 goals in 278 games for Tottenham and 32 in 45 for England makes this the longest of purple patches for one of the greatest strikers the Premier League has ever seen. But we still thing he is a little too fragile for a £200m price tag.

 

27: Mo Salah (Liverpool)
Edging out Paul Pogba is the Egyptian who has scored a really quite ridiculous 91 goals in 144 games for Liverpool after joining for a bargain £37m. He is now on the verge of winning the Premier League as part of one of the greatest attacking trios this league has ever seen.

 

28: Neymar (PSG)
We are heading into ‘no sell-on value’ territory here with the Brazilian who transferred to Paris in a £200m quest to win individual honours only to find that he really, really, really wants to play for Barcelona. He is now stuck with his agent saying: “I think Neymar will stay at PSG because the market is difficult.”

 

29: Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona)
Definitely one of those ‘he must be good but I have never actually seen it’ players, Griezmann moved to Barcelona for over £100m last summer and his contributions have been a tad underwhelming to say the least. For that amount of money you would want a little more than eight goals and four assists in La Liga.

 

30: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)
It’s an exclusive club with only Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski, Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Aguero and Luis Suarez as its other members. The criteria? Four consecutive 20-goal seasons in an elite league and the capacity for a fifth if football is ever played again. Aubameyang is comfortably in that club. Don’t sell him for pennies, Arsenal.

 

31: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
He has scored 231 goals in 276 goals for Bayern Munich. That is mental.

 

32: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
He has scored 627 goals in 718 games for Barcelona. That is even more mental.

 

33: Luiz Suarez (Barcelona)
A supreme goalscorer who has claimed 191 goals in 270 games since leaving Liverpool for Barcelona, finding the tight spaces afforded to him in La Liga a perfect match for his close control.

 

34: Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
So many red cards but so many trophies in a brilliant career with Real Madrid and Spain.

 

35: Ronaldo (Juventus)
He’s decent. Though not quite as good as that other fella, obviously.

 

36: Andres Iniesta (Vissel Kobe)
After winning all of the things many times over for Barcelona and Spain, Iniesta is still loving life – and logging assists – in Japan.

 

37: Franck Ribery (Fiorentina)
Hands up if you remembered that Ribery joined Fiorentina last summer after 12 trophy-sodden years at Bayern Munich? We would say that he is surprisingly still going strong but unfortunately, he is recovering from ankle surgery.

 

38: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan)
Notched the 475th, 476th, 477th and 478th goals of his senior career at AC Milan before football was suspended. He has been everywhere and won pretty much everything in domestic football. He is still Zlatan and he is still a bit of a cock.

 

39: Jesus Corona (CD Cruz Azul)
Goalkeeper. Captain. Old man. And the cry of every club who is staring down the barrel of a financial crisis.

 

40: Ricardo Oliviera (Atletico-MG)
Former Brazilian international striker who has played six minutes of football this season. He did not score.

 

41: Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen)
Fifteen games without a goal this season means a wonderful career is almost over.

 

42: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)
Conceded just nine goals in 11 appearances this season. Some old white men can jump.

 

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Arsenal Erling Haaland

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