A CIES Football Observatory study claimed Barcelona footballer "Neymar is the most expensive player in Europe's top five leagues ahead of his teammate Lionel Messi," according to Samuel Marsden of ESPN.com. Neymar, 24, has had "a difficult time in front of goal since October," recently ending an 11-game goal drought in last week's Copa del Rey win against Athletic Bilbao, but the report "still attributes him a potential value" of €246.8M ($261.7M). That's "substantially" more than the €170.5M ($180.8M) at which second-placed Messi is valued, with Barcelona "strike partner" Luis Suarez joining them in the top five at €145.2M ($154M). While La Liga "boasts" five of the seven most valuable players in Europe's top leagues, it is England's top flight which "dominates" the top 100. There are 42 players from the Premier League who make the cut. CIES explained that "the statistical model through which prices are calculated includes multiple variables on player performance (minutes, goals, etc.) and characteristics (age, contract, etc.), as well as data on employer clubs and potential recruiting ones" (ESPN.com, 1/16).
