The 10 clubs with the most valuable U21 players: Brighton above Man Utd…
Manchester United, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Barcelona are among the clubs that boast the most valuable youngsters in world football right now.
Transfermarkt have crunched the numbers and come up with a full list of the squads that boast the brightest under-21 stars, in terms of their combined transfer market value.
Here’s the full breakdown of the top 10. Liverpool (€109million) and Borussia Dortmund (€95million) just miss out on cracking the top 10.
10. RB Leipzig – €118million
Leipzig have perfected the art of investing in young players and selling them on for a massive profit in recent years. Just look at Josko Gvardiol, Dominik Szoboszlai, Christopher Nkunku and Naby Keita to name a select few.
That model shows no sign of abating, with 21-year-old striker Benjamin Sesko (market value: €50million) and 21-year-old centre-back Castello Lukeba (market value: €40million) among their rising stars.
9. Tottenham – €129million
The core of Spurs’ squad is a little older, with the majority of their most valuable assets in their mid-20s – James Maddison, Cristian Romero, Dejan Kulusevski – but Ange Postecoglou has a proven track record of developing young players and the club are now clearly looking to the future.
This year they’ve brought in two highly-rated 18-year-olds – England Under-21 international Archie Gray from Leeds and Swedish wonderkid Lucas Bergvall from Djurgarden.
Add in homegrown talent like 16-year-old Mikey Moore and Postecoglou’s Spurs might just be building something exciting.
8. Bayer Leverkusen – €161million
Given their historic league and cup double unbeaten domestic campaign, Leverkusen’s squad value in general has skyrocketed after the miracles worked by Xabi Alonso.
It remains to be seen what’s next for such a talented squad, but you’d imagine that key players such as Jeremie Frimpong, Alejandro Grimaldo and Victor Boniface will move on sooner or later.
In terms of youth, 21-year-old academy graduate Florian Wirtz’s gargantuan €130million transfer valuation accounts for a huge slice of the above number.
“I once said Florian Wirtz’s price is €150m. It was mistake saying that,” Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro said back in April.
“Wirtz is priceless, we want to keep him for as long as possible. I can remember a few talks with players who wanted to leave because they wanted to win titles. That’s no longer an argument.”
7. Manchester United – €193million
The Red Devils have famously named an academy graduate in every match squad for more than 86 years.
The Carrington production line just keeps on producing, with Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo surely two foundational pillars of the club’s future.
Those two plus 21-year-old Rasmus Hojlund and new signing Leny Yoro account for a near €200million transfer valuation that looks a tad on the conservative side by our estimates.
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6. Brighton – €202million
As with Leipzig above, Brighton have done exceptionally well at investing in youth and selling on. Moises Caicedo, Marc Cucurella, Ben White and Alexis Mac Allister just four examples of how adept the Seagulls have been at developing talent.
We can’t see that changing any time soon, with Fabian Hurzeler’s squad featuring the likes of 19-year-old Evan Ferguson, 20-year-old Julio Enciso and 21-year-old Bart Verbruggen.
Ferguson had been talked up as the Premier League’s next £100million transfer, but the Republic of Ireland international didn’t quite kick on as expected in a frustrating, injury-hit 2023-24 campaign. Next season is a big one for the teenager.
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5. Bayern Munich – €205million
Bayern’s squad is full of older, experienced players, with Manuel Neuer, Thomas Muller, Harry Kane, Eric Dier, Leon Goretzka, Serge Gnabry, Joshua Kimmich and new signing Joao Palhinha all 29 or older.
At the other end of the spectrum, they boast Aleksandar Pavolic, 20, and Jamal Musiala, 21, who are valued at €30million and €130million respectively.
4. Chelsea – €242million
It’s no surprise to see Chelsea feature somewhere near the top of this list, given how much they’ve pivoted towards investing in youth since Todd Boehly’s 2022 takeover.
The €242million transfer valuation of their Under-21s is surely lower than the money they’ve actually invested in said youngsters, but they remain assets nonetheless.
Cole Palmer, Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo are all just above the under-21 bracket, but Levi Colwill, Malo Gusto, Romeo Lavia, Lesley Ugochukwu, Carney Chukwuemeka and Marc Guiu are among a considerably longer list of names that do make the cut.
3. PSG – €262million
Returning loanee Xavi Simons, 21, suddenly finds himself rated as PSG’s most valuable player (market value: €80million) following the long-signposted departure of Kylian Mbappe.
The perennial Ligue 1 champions also boast the likes of 18-year-old Warren Zaire-Emery, 21-year-old Bradley Barcola, 20-year-old Lucas Beraldo and 18-year-old Gabriel Moscardo.
Those lot give hope that the post-Mbappe future may yet be bright.
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2. Real Madrid – €320million
Los Blancos’ immediate future looks terrifying. And it’s not just that addition of Mbappe.
In the upcoming 2024-25 campaign, as well as his established core of multiple Champions League winners, Carlo Ancelotti will be blessed to work with teenage trio Endrick, Arda Guler and Nico Paz.
That’s not to mention the fact that Eduardo Camavinga and Jude Bellingham are still just 21.
And yet – somehow – they don’t top this list.
1. Barcelona – €444million
La Masia has a well-founded reputation as the most productive talent factory in world football, and it’s certainly living up to that in 2024.
It’s well over a decade since Pep Guardiola looked to a homegrown core of world-beaters – Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol and Lionel Messi all developed their skills in Barcelona’s legendary academy – and history might yet repeat itself.
“What I’m seeing in the first training sessions, it’s unbelievable. Thank you to La Masia,” says new boss Hansi Flick.
And he’s not even worked with jewel in the crown, 17-year-old Lamine Yamal yet. The prodigy just played a starring role in Spain’s Euro 2024 triumph and is valued at a whopping €120million.
Then you’ve got Hector Fort, 17, Pau Cubarsi, 17, Gavi, 19, Alejandro Balde, 20, Fermin Lopez, 21 and Pedri, 21. Outrageous.