Son Heung-min’s transfer value is 71.1 billion won

Son Heung-min was the only Asian player ranked in the list of Top 100 football players for transfer values. The International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) under the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) announced the Top 100 football players with the highest transfer values on Monday (local time).

Son was ranked in the 88th position with 52.9 million euros (71.1 billion won). The first on the list is Kylian Mbappe of Paris Saint-Germain with 205.6 million euros (276.2 billion won), the second is Vinícius Junior of Real Madrid with 185.3 million euros, and the third is Erling Haaland of Manchester City with 152.6 million euros.

Given that Son scored 23 goals in the 2021-2022 season of the English Premier League and won the award for scoring the most goals for the first time as an Asian player, his ranking and transfer value may seem rather low. Mohamed Salah of the Liverpool who jointly won the award for scoring the most goals along with Son was also ranked in a relatively low position of the 81st place. It is because transfer values are calculated based on not only players’ current performance but also how long they will maintain current capabilities. Therefore, a younger player with similar performance has a higher transfer value than an older player.

“Estimated transfer values are based on a player’s performance and age, well as the economic value of the team the player is in,” said BBC on the CIES’ announcement. In fact, there is no player aged over 25 in the Top 10. The oldest player on the Top 100 list is Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City aged 31. Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi did not make the Top 100 list for the same reason, even though the players have been competing with each other for the best striker in the world for nearly 10 years.


hun@donga.com