Raheem Sterling’s transfer value has risen above that of Lionel Messi for the first time.
The Manchester City star, who began the season with a hat-trick in the 5-0 thrashing of West Ham at the weekend, is now rated as the third most valuable footballer on the planet – behind Kylian Mbappe and Liverpool rival Mo Salah.
The CIES Football Observatory calculates the value of players in the big five European leagues based on age, form, results, position, league and 16 other variables.
The Switzerland-based research group updates their findings regularly, and at the end of last season Barcelona legend Messi – seen by many as the greatest player ever – was above Sterling.
But Messi, at the age of 32, has been on a downward trend for some time, while Sterling’s value has climbed steadily.
The CIES now reckons Sterling is worth around £191.5million on the transfer market, while Messi has slipped back to £154million after an unimpressive Copa America campaign.
Sterling was a key figure as City won the three main domestic trophies in England last season, and has also established himself as a key player for the national team.
Not that City will be selling any time soon – Sterling signed a three-year contract extension which takes him to 2023.
He is also closing in on the top two most valuable players – Paris Saint-Germain ace Mbappe is rated at £232million and Salah at £202million.
City might wish they had tried harder to keep rising Borussia Dortmund star Jadon Sancho, too, with his value rocketing to £147million – a nearly 1,900 per cent increase!
The next most valuable City player is Leroy Sane, in tenth position with a valuation of £126.3million – ironically nearly £20million short of the price tag City placed on him when Bayern Munich were publicly courting the player.
He is just ahead of Bernardo Silva (£126.1m) and Gabriel Jesus (£120million).
Other City stars to have increased their values are Aymeric Laporte (£97m), Ederson (£95m), Rodri (£81m), John Stones (£78m), Sergio Aguero (£74m), Kyle Walker (£68m), Joao Cancelo (£63.5m), and Kevin De Bruyne (£62.5m).
