Saudi Pro League market values: Ronaldo gives up MVP title, Benzema and Neymar drop in value

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This summer’s transfer window broke the record for most amount of money spent on transfer fees. While the Premier League led the way in that shopping spree, no less than €957 million of the total €8.72b spent came from clubs in the Saudi Pro League. The most expensive addition was Neymar, who made the move to Al-Hilal for €90m, but that hasn’t stopped the Brazilian star from becoming one of the three biggest losers in Transfermarkt’s new market value update of the Saudi top-flight. In total, 78 players received new values and no less than 33 of them saw their market values drop. 

“The current interim update of the Saudi Pro League is exceptional,” explains Tiberius Radziejewski, Asia Area Manager at Transfermarkt. “Numerous top international stars from the top five leagues in Europe moved to Saudi Arabia in the late autumn of their careers. The majority of the newcomers have signed the last major contract of their careers, which is also reflected in the market value - in this age group, a change to the current salary is unlikely for most of them.” 

For former Paris Saint-Germain star Neymar, who will be out for a long time due to a cruciate ligament and meniscus injury in his left knee, his value has dropped significantly by €10m to €50m. It was a similar case for former Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema, whose value dropped by €10m to €15m. As well as former Lazio star Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, whose value stands at €40m after a €10m drop. "Despite decent performances at first, Neymar and Benzema have reached their zenith and a drop in value was inevitable, regardless of the league's sporting quality,” notes Radziejewski. “A transfer based on the previous market values seemed unlikely. To what extent Neymar's long-term injury will upset Al-Hilal's sporting plans is still unclear.” The last time Neymar’s market value was this low was in 2013 when he was still finding his feet at Barcelona. 

However, the aforementioned trio weren’t the only players to face big drops in value. Former Barcelona midfielder Franck Kessié (-€5m to €20m), ex-Liverpool star Fabinho (€-4m to €38m), and his former teammates Roberto Firmino (-€3m to €15m) and Jordan Henderson (€-2m to €8m) all saw big decreases. Similarly former Premier League players like N'Golo Kanté (-€3m to €12m) and Riyad Mahrez (-€2m to €18m) were also devalued. Although Al-Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo did not receive a new market value and remains at €15m, things have nevertheless gone "downhill" for the veteran star. Before the transfer window, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner was still the the most valuable player in the Saudi Pro League but now he ranks 23rd. 

How Transfermarkt market values work

The Transfermarkt market values are calculated, taking into account various pricing models. A major factor is the Transfermarkt community, whose members discuss and evaluate player market values in detail. In general, the Transfermarkt market values are not to be equated with transfer fees. 

The goal is not to predict a price but an expected value of a player in a free market. Both individual transfer modalities and situational conditions are relevant in determining market values. Examples of this are listed below. Transfermarkt does not use an algorithm (you can find the detailed market value definition here).