20 years of market values at TM
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In the 2012/13 season, FC Bayern dominated European football after two years without a title. The Munich team won the championship with a record score of 91 points, which was to be followed by the DFB Cup and the Champions League in the German final against Borussia Dortmund. As part of the 20th anniversary of market values, we are looking at the most valuable professionals of each season since 2004 in a series. However, no Bayern professional made it into the most valuable eleven, not even Franck Ribéry, the favorite for the Ballon d’Or for many and had a market value of 42 million euros.
Real Madrid’s Ronaldo secured the coveted award ahead of FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, who was the most valuable player with a market value of 120 million euros. The Argentine scored 60 goals in 50 games and led the Catalans to the Spanish championship. In the Champions League they were outclassed in the semi-finals by Jupp Heynckes and FC Bayern – the final score was 0:7 after the first and second leg. Despite scoring twelve goals in twelve games, Ronaldo and Real Madrid were defeated by Borussia Dortmund in the semi-finals.
With Gerard Piqué, Sergio Busquets, Andrés Iniesta and Cesc Fàbregas, four of Messi’s teammates were in the most valuable eleven. Real Madrid had three professionals: Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos and Iker Casillas. The Portuguese, who was top scorer in the Champions League with twelve goals, was able to break the 100 million euro mark for the first time at the start of the season. After long-term rival Messi, he was the second footballer to achieve this.
Neymar’s last season in Brazil – PSG millions bear fruit
With Neymar from FC Santos, a player made it into the most valuable eleven for the first time who was under contract outside Europe and was hunted by the top European clubs. It was his last season in Brazil, as the then 21-year-old moved to FC Barcelona for 88 million euros in the summer of 2013. He had previously scored 136 goals and assisted 64 in 225 games for Santos. The market value of the sought-after Brazilian was 50 million euros – in 2017, Paris Saint-Germain was supposed to make him the most expensive footballer in the world.
PSG already caused a stir in the summer of 2012 because it invested 151 million euros in new players and was the club with the highest spending. Thiago Silva came from AC Milan for 42 million euros, equaling Javier Pastore as a record transfer at the time. The signing of the central defender was a complete success, as with just 23 goals conceded in 38 games, the capital city team won the French championship for the first time since 1993/94 and started a dominant era in French football. With a market value of 40 million euros, Silva made it into the most valuable eleven.
In addition to Silva, PSG also signed Zlatan Ibrahimović for 21 million euros from Milan, who played a key role in the recovery. With 52 goals in 46 games, the Swede was only bettered by Messi and Ronaldo. In fourth place was Dortmund’s Robert Lewandowski, who was involved in 49 goals. The then 30-year-old Ibrahimović had a market value of €35 million, while Lewandowski was able to increase his from €20 million to €39 million.
Archive: The most valuable footballers 2011/12| 2010/11 | 2009/10 | 2008/09 | 2007/08 |2006/07|2005/06|2004/05
