Arsenal have four players in the top 100 most valuable in Europe’s top-five leagues, according to the CIES Football Observatory, with Lucas Torreira shooting up the list since joining.
The Football Observatory evaluates players’ transfer values using an algorithm that takes into account a number of factors. That includes age, position, time spent playing for club and country, the success of those clubs and countries, contract duration, and more.
Considering Arsenal’s position in the league, and the fact there haven’t been too many consistent performers in the team this season, it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that there are very few Gunners stars up near the top of the list. However, four of them do make the top 100.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (€95.4m, 31st) is the highest placing Arsenal star, despite turning 30 by June 2019. Alexandre Lacazette (€74.6m, 62nd) is next, followed by Lucas Torreira (€74.3m, 63rd). Finally, Granit Xhaka (€62.9m, 82nd) completes the quartet.
Torreira’s climb has been particularly impressive in recent months. When he joined Arsenal in July, the Football Observatory only put him at €33.2m, meaning his value has skyrocketed by 124% since joining. That should be no surprise, considering his good performances and age.
Similarly, Aubameyang’s value is significantly better than when he joined. The striker is proving he can score for fun in the Premier League, with 14 goals this season, boosting him to €95.4m from his €64.7m valuation as he left the Bundesliga.
Xhaka and Lacazette have had more of a turbulent time recently. Xhaka’s value got as high as €69.8m in April, before dropping as low as €58.9m in September. However, he’s back up to €62.9m now. Meanwhile, Lacazette’s €74.6m valuation is actually his lowest for the past 12 months. Clearly, spending less time starting matches is hurting a bit.
Absentees
After his new contract, and considering his household name status, you might have expected to see Mesut Özil on the list. However, his value has been in free-fall ever since last February, right after he signed that new deal. At the time, he was at €74.6m, but now he’s down to €23.0m.
Hector Bellerin has an even longer contract, he’s still just 23 and he’s been playing well this season. His recent injury appears to have hurt his value a little bit this month though, and at €46.0m he falls outside the top 100, which bottoms out at €55.6m in 100th.
Matteo Guendouzi might not make the list, but he’s certainly the biggest winner of the last month, and of Arsenal’s season so far. He was valued at €7.4m in July, then €17.6m in December, and now that’s doubled to €35.2m. A 376% increase is not bad for 6 months!