The values of football players are always in constant change, be it upwards or downwards. International tournaments, spectacular goals, unforeseen injuries, a good season or simply bad luck are some of the factors that make players’ market value swing from season to season, and sometimes suddenly. With the sporting seasons coming to an end, Finance Football has compiled the data, put the numbers together and went looking for players who, for one reason or another, lost more value during the year.
Ahead of the ranking is the Colombian James Rodriguez, currently (still…) playing for Real Madrid. The 10-year-old is experiencing one of the worst seasons of his career. Criticized since last year, the Colombian made 33 appearances for Real Madrid this season, reaching 11 goals and 13 assists, but lost the place in the midfield for Casemiro, allegedly for not being able to perform well defensive tasks.
James arrived at Real Madrid in 2014, after a wonderful World-Cup one, where he scored of the great goals of the competition. At the time, it became one of the most expensive signings ever, making Real spend 80 million euros with him (which generated several criticisms and warnings). James fulfilled expectations in the first season, but from there on he lost glow and today there are rumours saying he might be leaving the clube soon. Still, its market value remains high, at 50 million euros.
Mario Götze is the second in the ranking. The German is in one of the worst moments of his life, not just sporting but personal. Due to a metabolic disorder, the German is already some distance away from the lawns and is likely to continue this way. His market value fell by 25 million euros.
In the third is the well-known Jackson Martinez. After transferring from Atletico Madrid to the Chinese league, the 30-year-old striker devalued 21 million euros. The main reason for this drop figure is the reduced value of the Chinese league. The Colombian, who has played for FC Porto, is valued at 9 million euros.
A curious question to note is that the table is full of champions of the respective leagues. James Rodriguez was Spanish champion, Falcao was French champion Arjen Robben, Thomas Müller and Philipp Lahm (although he finished his career) were German champions, English champion Cesc Fábregas and Italian champion Medhi Benatia. Will these devaluations be reversed after the end of this season?
Chinese league takes the lead
There are many players in this ranking who are currently playing in China. No wonder: if you move from a top european club to a chinese one, your market value is likely to go way down. In addition to Jackson Martínez, also Hulk, Carlos Tévez, Axel Witsel, Oscar, Ramires and Alex Teixeira have moved to Chine. The ‘chinese’ players make up a total of 97 million euros in market value loss.
Age also takes its toll on football players. Among the 20 players mentioned in the table, 12 have already crossed the 30-year-old barrier. Jackson Martinez, Wayne Rooney, Falcao, Arjen Robben, Cesc Fabregas, Hulk, Bastian Scheweinsteiger, Carlos Tévez, Yaya Touré, Philipp Lahm, Medhi Benatia and Ramires are experienced players but age begins to weigh. Like Cristiano Ronaldo, at 32, the numbers are beginning to be not the same as they used to be. All in all, these older players have already ‘erased’ about 180 million euros in market value.
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