![Lionel Messi](https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5579f1146bb3f78d4049d054-1200-924/lionel-messi-48.jpg)
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Messi was determined to have a transfer value of $287.6-315.5 million (€255.3-280.9 million). That's more than a $100 million greater than any other player in the world.
While fans will argue about whether Messi or Ronaldo is the best player in the world, the one huge advantage Messi has over Ronaldo in terms of value is age. Messi (27) is three years younger than his Real Madrid rival. Ronaldo is one of just seven of the top 100 players who has already celebrated his 30th birthday, and he fell to No. 3 on this year's list behind Chelsea's Eden Hazard.
In addition to age, the player values are determined based on a formula that considers a player's performance, position, contract status, and experience, as well as his current team's performance and competition level, while factoring recent trends in spending in the transfer market.
Here are the 20 most valuable:
- Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - $287.8-316.6 million
- Eden Hazard (Chelsea) - $152.7-167.9 million
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) - $127.7-140.6 million
- Neymar (Barcelona) - $101.0-111.0 million
- Sergio Agüero (Manchester City) - $88.2-97.0 million
- Raheem Sterling (Liverpool) - $83.1-91.3 million
- Paul Pogba (Juventus) - $79.3-87.2 million
- Diego Costa (Chelsea) - $78.8-86.7 million
- Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal) - $76.4-84.1 million
- James Rodríguez (Real Madrid) - $70.5-77.6 million
- Luis Suárez (Barcelona) - $67.6-74.4 million
- Antoine Griezmann (Atlético Madrid) - $66.5-73.2 million
- Cesc Fàbregas (Chelsea) - $66.2-72.7 million
- Isco Alarcón (Real Madrid) - $64.5-70.9 million
- Harry Kane (Tottenham) - $60.3-66.4 million
- Gareth Bale (Real Madrid) - $57.8-63.6 million
- Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool) - $56.8-62.6 million
- Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea) - $56.7-62.4 million
- Oscar dos Santos (Chelsea) - $53.6-59.0 million
- Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) - $50.3-55.4 million
See the full list at Football-Observatory.com