The world’s most valuable player has been named and surprisingly it’s not the current Best player in the world and Paris Saint-Germain star Ousmane Dembele.
CIES Football Observatory has revealed the 2026 top 100 list of the world’s most valuable player. however, the latest winner of the Ballon d’Or has not been included in the top 100.
Dembele enjoyed a brilliant 2025 with PSG. The Frenchman capped off a fantastic year by being handed FIFA’s ‘The Best’ award, to go alongside his Ballon d’Or, Champions League, Ligue 1, French Cup and French Super Cup trophies.
However, he failed to beat out 99th-placed Alessandro Bastoni of Inter Milan, who has a value of €62m (£53m).
Who is the World’s Most Valuable Player?
Lamine Yamal of FC Barcelona has been named the World’s Most Valuable Player (Photo by Bagu Blanco / PRESSIN)
Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal has been named world’s most valuable player.
Yamal has had a busy year. After winning La Liga with Barcelona, the Spaniard has accelerated his development even further under Hansi Flick, becoming the Blaugrana’s talisman and MVP on and off the pitch.
Beyond Bayern Munich’s Olise in fifth, the Football Observatory list ranks Florian Wirtz, Dembele’s team-mates Desire Doue and Joao Neves, Arda Guler and Pedri in the top 10.
The youngest player to feature on the list is Real Madrid’s Franco Mastantuono at 18 years and three months old, and the oldest is 29-year-old Raphinha.
Top 10 World’s Most Valuable Player
1. Lamine Yamal – Barcelona (€343m)
2. Erling Haaland – Manchester City (€255m)
3. Kylian Mbappé – Real Madrid (€201m)
4. Jude Bellingham – Real Madrid (€153m)
5. Michael Olise – Bayern Munich (€137m)
6. Florian Wirtz – Liverpool (€136m)
7. Désiré Doué – Paris Saint-Germain (€133m)
8 João Neves – Paris Saint-Germain (€132m)
9. Arda Güler – Real Madrid (€131m)
10. Pedri – Barcelona (€130m)
