Neither Mbappé nor Haaland, these are the most expensive players in the world right now

After two decades in which Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi dominated world soccer, it's time for the next generation. CR7 and Leo are 38 and 36 years old, respectively, and know that the end of their professional careers is near. So now young players are competing for a place at the top of the sport.

When Messi won his eighth Ballon d'Or, in October 2023, he assured that it would be the last of his career and that from next year onwards it will be new stars who will take the stage to receive it. He named some of them, such as Manchester City's Erling Haaland, Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappé and Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior.

However, today the most expensive player in the world is none of them. The CIES Football Observatory released the rankig of the players whose market value is highest right now and number 1 is Jude Bellingham. The Real Madrid midfielder is just 20 years old and has already become one of the most coveted players in Europe, as his performances in La Liga and Champions League during the last semester exceeded expectations and justified the $110 million Los Merengues paid for him.

Bellingham is worth $294 million. Behind him is Erling Haaland, with $275 million. And then there are two Real Madrid players: Vinicius Junior ($274 million) and Rodrygo Goes ($271 million). Further down are two Premier League stars: Arsenal's Bukayo Saka ($245 million) and Manchester City's Phil Foden ($215 million).

Where is 'Kiki'?

One of the details that caught everyone's attention is that Kylian Mbappé is not only not among the top spots, he didn't even make it into the top-20 of the ranking. He ranks 27th, with a value of $116 million. The reason for this is that he only has six months left on his contract with Paris Saint-Germain and so it is unlikely that a club would agree to pay big money for him right now, knowing that next summer they could sign him for free.