It's no secret that the sums of money in football have grown exponentially over the past decade and this is reflected in the astronomical sums involved in player transfers.
The latest index released by the CIES Football Observatory reveals one surprise inclusion in the top five most valuable players in world football.
The organisation uses a complex algorithm to value players across Europe's big five leagues, namely the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1 and published their top 100 players.
Thanks to a blistering 2015, in which he scored 27 goals, Harry Kane has been named the world's fifth most valuable player.
Unsurprisingly, Lionel Messi (€250m) tops the pile and is widely tipped to be named Ballon d'Or winner for 2015, while his Barcelona teammate Neymar (€152m) sits in second.
The 'S' of Barcelona's 'MSN' attacking trident failed to make the top five, with Luis Suarez ranking as low as eight position.
Chelsea's Eden Hazard (€130m) beats Cristiano Ronaldo to third spot, with the Portuguese forward sitting one space further back.
The question is of course: "How are these values calculated?".
Well, they thought of that and provided criteria with which to base their calculations on.
CIES Football Observatory transfer value calculator uses an exclusive algorithm created on the basis of nearly 1,500 fee paying transfers which have occurred during the previous five years and which originated at a big-5 league club. The new algorithm will continue to be updated after every transfer window to take into account the latest market trends.
The index values youth over experience, meaning that Manchester United and England captain Rooney doesn't make the top 100. Teammates Memphis Depay, Anthony Martial, David de Gea and even Phil Jones make the list.
Top Ten Most Valuable Players:
1. Lionel Messi (€250.7m)
2. Neymar (€152.7m)
3. Eden Hazard (€130.5m)
4. Cristiano Ronaldo (€114m)
5. Harry Kane (€91m)
6. Raheem Sterling (€89.8)
7. Antoine Griezman (€88.3m)
8. Luis Suarez (€86.3m)
9. Sergio Aguero (€82.1m)
10. Alexis Sanchez (€81.9m)
You can see the full list of players here.
