20 years of market values at TM
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In the 2008/09 season, Pep Guardiola secured the Champions League for the first time with FC Barcelona. In the final against Manchester United, the most valuable footballers in the world at the time faced each other: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. As part of the 20th anniversary of market values, Transfermarkt looks at the most valuable professionals of every season since 2004 – this time with the two exceptional talents who would dominate world football in the following decade.
With market values of 60 million euros each, Messi and Ronaldo replaced Ronaldinho. The Brazilian had previously been at the top of Transfermarkt for four years since market values were introduced. Now there was no getting past the Argentine and the Portuguese. Messi scored 38 goals and 19 assists in 51 competitive games for Barça that season and was named World Player of the Year and the Ballon d’Or for the first time in 2009, among other awards. In his last season for Man United, Ronaldo scored 26 goals and twelve assists in 53 games and became English champions with his team. His subsequent €94 million move to Real Madrid made him the most expensive player in the world.
Behind the top duo, who have met each other 36 times to date, there was another player, Milan’s Kaká (55 million), who cracked 50 million euros. For comparison: 120 professionals currently have a market value of at least 50 million euros. The top five from that season are completed by Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard (46 million) and Inter’s Zlatan Ibrahimović (45 million), who was to become Messi’s teammate in 2009/10.
The most valuable eleven of the 2008/09 season is made up of professionals from eight teams. The two Champions League finalists each have two players, Messi and Xavi (44 million) on the Catalans’ side and Ronaldo and Rio Ferdinand (34 million) on the Red Devils’ side. Liverpool FC, who were runners-up in 2008/09, also have two professionals, Gerrard and Fernando Torres (43 million). Torres, together with Xavi and Sergio Ramos (32 million), became European champions with Spain in the summer of 2008 and scored the winning goal in a 1-0 win against Germany.
You won’t find any Germans or players from the Bundesliga in the most valuable selection of that season. At the time, Michael Ballack, who worked for Chelsea FC, was valued highest at 28 million euros. In the German upper house, FC Bayern’s Franck Ribéry was at the top with 35 million euros, but he had too strong international competition in the winger position with Messi and Ronaldo.
20 years of market values: From a “pure hobby project” to a relevant player in world football
