Transfers: L. Messi considered most valuable player at €211.1m, eight players valued over €100 m

Lionel Messi (ARG, FC Barcelona), valued at € 211.1m, is the most valuable player in the world on the transfer market, according to data presented by the CIES Football Observatory, in its 152^nd weekly newsletter, published on 01/06/2016.

Lionel Messi, ahead of his Barcelona teammate Neymar (BRA, €201.5m), are the only two players whose value is estimated at over €200m. Cristiano Ronaldo (POR, Real Madrid CF) completed the podium with an estimated value of €137.8m. Eight players are valued at more than €100m, including the two French forwards Antoine Griezmann (Club Atlético de Madrid, €120.2m) and Anthony Martial (Manchester United FC, €111.8m).

"Since 2013, the correlation between the transfer values predicted by the CIES Football Observatory algorithm and the fees actually paid for recruitment big-5 league players has been close to 80%. The strength of this correlation shows that, on the one hand, the footballers transfer market is rational and, on the other hand, that its rationality has been well understood by the econometric model developed," said the CIES, who revealed the…