Most valuable players in 2023/24: Bellingham in the top 3 - Saudi Pro League emerges

Real Madrid (squad value: €1.12bn) won the Champions League for the 15th time, and Spain would win the European Championship. Bayer Leverkusen (€648m) played a perfect domestic season to dethrone Bayern Munich (€872m) in the Bundesliga. We reviewed last season as part of 20 years of market values on Transfermarkt. 

At the top of the ranking were Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham, and Kylian Mbappé, who would go into his final season with Paris Saint Germain (€989m). With 36 direct goal involvements in 42 games, Bellingham had the most goal contributions at Real Madrid. Mbappé and Haaland were second and third among Europe’s top goal-scorers. In first place was Bayern’s Harry Kane, who scored 44 goals in 42 games and provided an additional 12 assists. 

In the most valuable XI, Haaland was joined by three of his Manchester City (€1.32bn) teammates: European Championship and Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, Josko Gvardiol, who became the most expensive defender in history when he was signed from Leipzig for €90m, and Rúben Dias. Real Madrid had two players, Vinicius Junior and Bellingham, the same amount as Arsenal (€1.16bn). Bukayo Saka and William Saliba represented the London-based club. Portuguese national team goalkeeper Diogo Costa from Porto (€310m) was the only player not playing in one of Europe’s top five leagues.  

Chelsea and PSG invest over €400m – Saudi Arabia sign stars

The two clubs with the biggest expenses were Chelsea (€946m), with €464m paid for new players, and PSG, with €455m invested in new players. In third place were Al-Hilal, who, as part of the Saudi transfer offensive, paid €376m for new players, including €90m for Neymar. Altogether, the club from the Saudi Pro League paid €973m for new players—more than the Bundesliga and LaLiga. Declan Rice and Moisés Caicedo moved for €116m, respectively, to Arsenal and Chelsea to become the most expensive transfers of the season.