Kylian Mbappe 1st, Cristiano Ronaldo 20th most valuable player in the world

A study into football transfer fee has suggested PSG’s Kylian Mbappe is the world’s most valuable player – and Liverpool youngster Trent Alexander-Arnold is worth more than Manchester United’s Paul Pogba.

CIES Football Observatory have used an algorithm taking into account factors such as age, contract status, position, game time, goals, international experience and club performance to calculate an estimated market value for leading players.

They have found Mbappe – who has hinted he could be prepared to leave his French club – could be worth as much as €252m, ahead of Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (€219.6m), who is second on the list.

Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling (€207.8m) is valued ahead of Barcelona legend Lionel Messi (€167.4m), who is eight years older, with rising England and Borussia Dortmund star Jadon Sancho (€159.4m) fifth.

There are some other surprising rankings in the list, including 20-year-old Alexander-Arnold (€130.2m) ahead of both his former Liverpool team-mate Philippe Coutinho (€129.4m) of Barcelona and Manchester United rival Pogba (€125.1m)

Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson is ranked as the most expensive goalkeeper (€107m), despite Chelsea’s Kepa Arrizabalaga attracting a bigger transfer fee last summer.

In fact, Liverpool players take up four spots in the top 20 most valuable players, while there are also four from Manchester City and three from Manchester United