After a summer featuring the largest FIFA World Cup to date and record activity in the transfer market, Football Benchmark has completed its September 2026 update of the Player Valuation Platform.
The platform provides independent market value estimates for thousands of players across global football, allowing users to analyse individual players, compare squads, and track how values develop over time.
The estimates are generated through proprietary statistical models informed by thousands of historical player transfers. No single factor determines value in isolation. The model assesses the economic strength of each contract, incorporating factors such as performance, age, and player and club characteristics.
The latest update sees Lamine Yamal retain his position as the world’s most valuable player after helping Spain win the FIFA World Cup, while new Brentford FC signing Mamadou Sangaré records the largest increase compared to the end of last season. At league level, the Premier League’s combined squad value stands at €14.1bn, more than double that of second-placed LaLiga, while squad values have grown across all five of Europe’s “Big Five” leagues.
This analysis explores these and other selected insights from the September 2026 update.
The world’s most valuable players
Lamine Yamal remains the world’s most valuable player, with his estimated market value increasing further to €292m after helping Spain win the FIFA World Cup.
Kylian Mbappé (€230m) and Erling Haaland (€208m) remain in second and third place and are the only other players valued above €200m. Both also made a significant impact at the World Cup: Mbappé won the Golden Boot with 10 goals, while Haaland scored seven times during Norway’s first appearance at the tournament since 1998.
The top 10 includes players from seven clubs across four leagues. Real Madrid CF are the most represented club, with three players in the top 10, followed by FC Barcelona with two. This gives LaLiga five representatives overall, followed by the Premier League with three, and the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 each have one. The average age of the top 10 is just 24, with the oldest player in the group being Kylian Mbappé at still only 27.
Summer transfers feature among the largest increases
In terms of the largest increases since the previous update at the end of last season, Mamadou Sangaré tops the list with his valuation more than doubling from €20.8m to €45.6m. The midfielder moved from RC Lens to Brentford FC in the summer for a reported fee of about €48m and has already delivered standout performances in the opening games of the season. Other major summer signings also feature, such as Ayyoub Bouaddi, Elliot Anderson, and Yan Diomande. Máximo Perrone and Victor Froholdt are also among the biggest risers, with both young midfielders competing in the Champions League this season. Notably, Yan Diomande is the only attacker in the ranking.
The presence of several recent transfers in the ranking also provides useful context for how the platform’s estimates should be interpreted. The platform estimates the fair market value of a player’s registration on a given date through a consistently applied methodology.
A transfer fee, meanwhile, is the outcome of a specific negotiation between clubs. It may also reflect competition for the player, the circumstances of the buying and selling clubs, contractual conditions, and the wider terms of the transaction. Price and value are therefore connected but they are not necessarily the same.
Premier League squad value is more than double that of LaLiga
The Premier League’s 20 clubs have a combined estimated squad value of €14.1bn, more than twice the €6.6bn recorded by second-placed LaLiga. Its advantage is sufficiently large that the Premier League alone is valued approximately €1.3bn higher than LaLiga and Serie A, the second- and third-ranked leagues, combined.
This presents an interesting contrast with the individual player ranking. LaLiga accounts for five of the world’s 10 most valuable players, while the Premier League holds a much higher aggregate squad value. The figures illustrate the depth of value across Premier League squads, rather than its position being driven only by a small number of the market’s most valuable individuals.
The Championship offers further evidence of the depth of value in English football. Its combined squad value of €2.1bn places it sixth among the leagues analysed, ahead of Liga Portugal (€1.8bn), Brazil’s Série A (€1.8bn), the Turkish Süper Lig (€1.7bn), and the Dutch Eredivisie (€1.3bn). Even though the Championship is aided by the fact that it includes 24 clubs, its position is still strong.
Average squad values across the Big Five
The difference between the leagues is also visible when comparing average club values. The average Premier League squad is now worth €707m, compared with €328m in LaLiga, €316m in Serie A, €298m in the Bundesliga, and €218m in Ligue 1.
The Premier League’s position has strengthened considerably since September 2022. Its average club value has increased from €519m to €707m, a rise of 36%. Average values have increased across each of the other Big Five leagues, but at a much lower rate.
With the gap continuing to widen, it raises the question of whether any of Europe’s other major leagues can realistically challenge the Premier League’s financial strength in the transfer market, and what this growing imbalance could mean for the long-term competitiveness of European football.
Football Benchmark’s Player Valuation Platform provides current and historical estimates across the global market, enabling subscribers to compare players, squads, and leagues through a consistent, data-driven methodology. Alongside the platform, Football Benchmark provides bespoke player valuation assessments for clubs and ownership groups. These assignments combine data and statistical analysis with transaction-specific market intelligence, contractual assessment, and football expertise. This analysis provides a snapshot of some of the data from the September 2026 platform update, which is now available to subscribers. To learn more about the platform or Football Benchmark’s player valuation services, contact info@footballbenchmark.com.
