20 years of market values at TM
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AC Milan achieved revenge against Liverpool FC in the final of the 2006/07 Champions League, Real Madrid won the Spanish championship, Manchester United dethroned Chelsea FC in England and VfB Stuttgart surprisingly secured the title in Germany. As part of the 20th anniversary of market values at Transfermarkt, TM looks at the most valuable professionals of this season. For the third season in a row, Barça’s Ronaldinho was at the top.
The Brazilian’s market value was valued at 70 million euros thanks to his outstanding years in Spain. In his fourth season at FC Barcelona, he scored 21 goals in the league – the highest in the dribbling artist’s career. In terms of market values, they were followed by Andriy Shevchenko (51 million), who moved to Chelsea for 44 million euros in the summer of 2006, Arsenal’s Thierry Henry (50 million) and Milan’s Kaká (49.5 million). Shevchenko was unable to shine in the Premier League as he did in Serie A, scoring just four goals in 30 games.
The fact that Chelsea had previously become champions twice was also reflected in the market values of Shevchenko’s colleagues: with Frank Lampard (39.8 million) and John Terry (30 million), two other Blues professionals made it into the most valuable team at the time of the world. His debut was made by Cristiano Ronaldo (34 million), who won his first championship with Man United and whose market value would only increase over the next eight years.
The two Italian world champions Alessandro Nesta (29 million) and Gianluigi Buffon (33 million) as well as Barça’s Carles Puyol (27 million) and Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard (38.4 million) were also represented.
Among the 20 most valuable footballers in the world at the time were two Germans, Bayern’s Michael Ballack (35 million) and Werder’s Miroslav Klose (30 million) – today these market values would not be enough for the top 200.
