Belgian market values: El Khannouss new league MVP - Brentford bound Thiago rises by €19m

©Imago/Content stadium

After the departure of the most valuable player, Arthur Vermeeren, to Atlético Madrid in January, the Jupiler Pro League now has two most valuable players at the top of the ranking. Following the update after the conclusion of the regular season, Brugge’s Igor Thiago and KRC Genk’s Bilal El Khannouss are now the joint most valuable players in Belgium. The biggest winner of the update is league leaders Union Saint-Gilloise. Despite El Khannouss’ upgrade, Genk slightly dropped in squad value. 

After reaching the round of 16 of the UEFA Conference League, where Union Saint-Gilloise were eliminated by Fenerbahce, the squad value increased by €20.9m to €87.5m. Altogether 11 players see their market value increase, including top goalscorer Mohamed Amoura (+€6m to €16m) and top assists provider Cameron Puertas (+4m to €11m). “Union have been the most consistent team in the league over the last three seasons,” TM Area Manager Belgium Bart Tamsyn said. “Now more than ever, Union seem to be on the path to their first title since 1935. The club located in Brussels have established themselves as one of Belgium’s top teams and are increasingly getting results in Europe. By selling Victor Boniface to Bayer Leverkusen, the club also highlighted that they can generate high transfer fees for top players.” 

Squad market value leaders Brugge (+€13.3m to €138.7m) and RSC Anderlecht (+€12.8m to €109.5m) saw their squad values increase significantly. “But the dynamic of both clubs is completely different,” Tamsyn said. “Brugge’s squad value increase is completely dependent on one player because Thiago with a new market value of €25m is now the most valuable player in the Jupiler Pro League. But all his readjusted teammates saw their market values decrease.” Thiago saw his market value increase by €19m after his €33m summer transfer to Brentford became official in February. That deal is a record transfer for the Premier League side and once all bonus payments are met could become a record transfer for the Jupiler Pro League as well. El Khannouss increased his market value by €3m and remains even with the Brazilian.

Market values Belgium: Ilenikhena and El Khannouss keep impressing

“Anderlecht’s squad value increased thanks to eight players seeing their market value increase,” Belgian expert Tamsyn said. “Zeno Debast and the Danish duo Anders Dreyer as well as Kasper Dolberg stood out.” Top European clubs want Debast, and he has an excellent chance to be nominated for Belgium’s Euro 2024 squad. As a result, his market value is up by €2m to €15m. The same is true for Dreyer and Dolberg with the Danish national team. Dolberg has been in great form this season scoring 13 goals in 32 games, his best season in five years, and, as a result, his market value is up by €2m to €12m. Dreyer has scored 17 goals and eight assists in 30 games and is also up to €12m following the update. 

Market Value

Z. Debast Centre-Back

€15.00m

Cercle Brugge saw their squad value increase by €12m to €56.5m following the club’s qualification for the Champions’ Playoffs. The market value of top goalscorer Kévin Denkey increases significantly by €5m to €13m. Another player with a significant increase in market value is George Ilenikhena, who is set to follow in Vermeeren’s footsteps. The 17-year-old striker has been a consistent starter at Royal Antwerp and scores on a regular basis (eight goals in 28 games). With a market value of now €10m (+€3m), the Frenchman is among the ten most valuable players born in 2006. El Khannouss is also climbing the rankings as he is now among the most valuable players born in 2004. Indeed, if you exclude players not playing in any of Europe’s top five leagues, only Benfica’s João Neves (€45m) is more valuable. 

The players downgraded are predominantly Genk and Brugge players. Bryan Heynen (now €10m), Hans Vanaken (€7.5m), Carlos Cuesta (€6m), Mark McKenzie (€6m), Casper Nielsen (€4m), Mujaid Sadick (€3.5m), Andi Zeqiri (€3.5m), and Brandon Mechele (€3m) all drop by €1m each.

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).