Serie A Market values: Juve wonderkid Yıldız up by €20m - Inter crack €600m benchmark

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Inter Milan have increased their lead in the Serie A squad value ranking following the latest Transfermarkt market value update. Altogether 122 players saw their market values updated and while Inter Milan saw their squad value increase by €30.5 million to €619.4m, title holders SSC Napoli dropped once again, this time by -€22m to €513.2m. As a result, Napoli dropped behind AC Milan (+€9m to €533.5m) in the squad value ranking and is now feeling the hot breath of record champions Juventus, whose squad value increased by €36m to €490m thanks to large parts to the big winner of the update: Kenan Yıldız. Also on the up is surprise team Bologna (+€46m to €254.6m) where Joshua Zirkzee remains the big star. 

Yıldız’s development has been remarkable. The 18-year-old Turkish national team player started the season with a market value of €1m and has since seen his market value rise to first €10m and then after another €20m jump in this update to now €30m. The €20m increase is the biggest for any player playing in Serie A, and it also means that Yıldız will be ranked among the top 10 most valuable players of his age category. “Yıldız is a prime example of how talent development should work in Serie A,” Transfermarkt Area Manager Italy Jatin Dietl said. “Although head coach Max Allegri may have started the Turkish national team out of necessity, Yıldız paid it back with incredible plays and three goals for Juventus. Yıldız has received regular minutes since matchday 16, sometimes from the bench but often in the starting XI.” 

Behind Yıldız, eight players saw their market value increase by at least €10m. The players are 21-year-old Bologna defender Riccardo Calafiori, who went up by €12m to €25m, teammate Zirkzee (now €40m), Juventus defenders Bremer (to €60m) and Andrea Cambiaso (to €25m). Over at Inter Milan, the defensive duo of Benjamin Pavard (to €50m) and Alessandro Bastoni (to €70m) saw their market values increase. Finally, talents Valentín Carboni (to €15m), who is currently on loan at Monza from AC Milan, and 16-year-old AC Milan super talent Francesco Camarda received a starting market value of €10m. It is almost a Serie A cliché that seven of the ten biggest market value winners are defenders. 

Serie-A market values: Inter’s to Bastoni €70m

“Bastoni has finally taken up a leadership role in defense,” market value expert Dietl said. “Together with Pavard, veteran Francesco Acerbi, and goalkeeper Yann Sommer, he is responsible for the fact that Inter’s defense ranks the best in Serie A with only 13 goals conceded. Both are also crucial for their club’s buildup play and get involved in dangerous attacking plays. In Bastoni’s case, his age also means that we felt it was only consequential for him to make the jump to become one of the most valuable center-backs on the planet.” 

The most significant jump in squad value goes to Bologna under head coach Thiago Motta. Bologna are currently fourth in Serie A, and with Italian teams having performed well in Europe, fifth place is likely going to be enough to qualify for the Champions League this season. “Whether it is the playmaker-striker hybrid Zirkzee, who is heavily linked with a return to Bayern, midfield duo Lewis Ferguson and Giovanni Fabbian, defenders Calafiori and Victor Kristiansen or striker Santiago Castro, who was signed for a club record €12m; Bologna’s upgraded players are young, exciting and wanted on the transfer market,” Dietl said. “The impending Champions League qualification and the financial situation of the club, in general, means that European top clubs are interested, which, in turn, means that Bologna could generate significant transfer fees.” 

One of those players could be Ferguson. The Scottish midfielder was signed for just €2m from Aberdeen in the summer of 2022 and has since steadily increased his market value to an incredible €24m. With a market value increase of €22m in just two years, Ferguson is now one of the five most valuable Scottish players on the planet. He will certainly be a key player for Scotland in the upcoming Euros this summer in Germany. 

SSC Napoli drops again – Maignan no longer no.1 among goalkeepers

One team currently out of the Champions League ranks is title holders Napoli. “Although the situation has somewhat stabilized under new head coach Francesco Calzona, the reality is still that the team has produced some truly awful performances over the last few months,” Dietl said. “Players like Frank Anguissa, Stanislav Lobotka (both -€5m to €30m), Piotr Zieliński (-€5m to €25m), who is on the verge of joining Inter, but also captain and former mister consistency Giovanni Di Lorenzo (-€4m to €18m), are all far removed from their top forms. Those four are also in an age category—between 28 and 30—in which high transfer fees are no longer the norm, which also impacted the latest downgrade.” 

The only player with an upgrade at Napoli is winter signing Cyril Ngonge, who scored once in four goals and then suffered an injury. “Ngonge’s transfer fee of €18m to Hellas Verona—a club in financial troubles—surprised many,” Dietl said. “Whether he is worth such a high transfer fee and whether he can put his stamp on Napoli’s game is something to watch until the summer. We decided to make an in-between step up by €6m to €12m.” 

Among the players with downgrades is also French national team goalkeeper Mike Maignan. The AC Milan star saw his market value drop by €5m to now €40m and is no longer the joint most valuable goalkeeper in the world. “Maignan is playing a season that is way below his usual standards, making mistakes that are uncommon for him,” Dietl said. “The standards to be the world’s most valuable goalkeeper are higher.” Maignan isn’t the only prominent player with a downgrade. Italian national team defender Federico Chiesa saw his market value drop by €10m to €40m. Chiesa had his market value increased to €50m last summer after dropping from €70m to €40m over the course of several updates following an ACL injury in 2021. However, poor performances and more minor knocks meant that the slight upgrade to €50m was now corrected to his previous market value of €40m. 

Market Value

M. Maignan Goalkeeper

€40.00m

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).