Top 10 footballers whose transfer market value rose the most in 2023 | OneFootball

Highlights

Such is the way with modern football, all players have a ‘market value’ plastered next to their name on the ever-popular website, Transfermarkt. Over the course of a year or a season, a footballer’s valuation has a tendency to fluctuate, depending on an array of variables.

It could be that they’re on a good or bad run of form, or that they’ve hit a certain age bracket, or that they’ve been sidelined for an extensive period of time. Whatever the reason(s), Transfermarkt do a fantastic job of regularly keeping their valuations of players up to date. And now, they have released the top 10 players in world football that have seen the biggest increases in their market value in 2023 – coined the ‘rising stars’ of 2023.

To little to no surprise, all players are still in the embryonic stages of their careers and will, quite possibly, feature on this list in years to come – on the basis that they are still improving at an ungodly rate. With all that in mind, let’s run through the top 10. A quick caveat: where players have the same increase in value, they’ve been ranked accordingly by their current value. Got it? Good.

1 Jude Bellingham - Increased by €70m

Current value: €180m

2023 has been Jude Bellingham’s year – his rise to the top is, quite frankly, in a category of its own. A magician with the ball at his feet, while a level-headed figure off the field too, there is no extent to how brilliant the Birmingham-born star’s career can become.

At just 20 years of age, the England regular has grabbed the challenge of joining Real Madrid by the scruff of the neck and made it his playground with 17 goals and five assists in his inaugural 21 outings for Los Blancos – just simply sensational. Statistically, Bellingham was the best player of the Champions League knockout stages and will play an integral part if his side are to regain their crown at the end of the current campaign.

2 Evan Ferguson - Increased by €64m

Current value: €65m

The perks of being young and a brilliant striker, eh? Brighton & Hove Albion marksman Evan Ferguson has risen to widespread prominence over the last year or so and is courted to be the next best thing to come out of the Premier League – even to the extent where the likes of Manchester United are circling around his signature. Leading the line in the Premier League’s best teenage XI, the Irishman has been coined as a world beater and could assert his dominance in European football, too, if his employers finish strong domestically, or he gets a well-earned move to a regular on the European stage, which is becoming increasingly likely.

3 Lamine Yamal - Increased by €60m

Current value: €60m

Having graduated from the storied Barcelona youth set-up as a fresh-faced teenager, Lamine Yamal has gone from strength to strength since impressing during his full La Liga debut against Real Betis. Many players come and go from La Masia with high expectations laid before them; but in the case of Yamal, it looks as if he is going to pass every potential test with flying colours.

A four-cap Spain international, the teenage phenom has scored one goal and notched a further three assists in 778 minutes of senior football this season – and the sky really is the limit. With ample years left in the tank at just 16 years of age, you can expect to see his market value rise exponentially.

4 Warren Zaire-Emery - Increased by €54m

Current value: €60m

Entering a star-studded team without breaking a stride is certainly no easy feat. Warren Zaire-Emery, the most expensive 17-year-old in world football, has done just that, however, with his value now hitting the €60 million mark. The perennial Ligue 1 winners have made a habit of breaking the bank to see some of the finest talents strut their stuff at the Parc des Princes – but Zaire-Emery has broken the mold.

Hitting the half century appearance milestone at his age is unprecedented, though it just goes to show how highly valued he is in the French capital. With Marco Verratti no longer plying his trade at Paris Saint-Germain, no need to fret. Zaire-Emery is around.

The young Dutchman joined RB Leipzig on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, with the latter now licking their lips given his market value has increased by an eye-catching €52 million. Since arriving in Germany, Xavi Simons has started every game and is one of the main reasons as to why they currently occupy fourth spot.

Scoring four goals and notching a further seven assists in the opening 16 games is a fantastic return for a player of Simons’ age (20) and with his lack of top flight experience. There’s no doubt, however, that the 11-cap Netherlands international’s market value will continue to rise as the years go by.

6 Moises Caicedo - Increased by €52m

Current value: €90m

Moises Caicedo’s market value went through the roof after his British record-breaking switch worth £115 million was rubber-stamped between Brighton and Chelsea in the summer of 2023, while he arrived in west London to much fanfare. Whether the Blues’ expenditure has paid dividends thus far remains a conversation for another day, but the Ecuadorian midfielder, 22, still has years in his legs to, perhaps, become a club legend. The centrepiece of the Chelsea youth-inspired revolution, Caicedo is yet to make significant changes to how Mauricio Pochettino’s side tick over, but time will tell whether he’ll live up to his outlandish fee.

7 Rasmus Hojlund - Increased by €50m

Current value: €65m

A lot of concerns were raised when Manchester United parted ways with £72 million for an inexperienced striker in the name of Rasmus Hojlund instead of someone of Harry Kane’s ilk. He hasn’t helped his case by taking a while to notch his first Premier League goal either, though it has been suggested it is not completely down to the youngster. Once a lesser-known talent worth €50 million, the Dane is now worth €65 million and as long as he can continue on his career trajectory, United’s outlay has every chance of becoming that old age cliché of ‘money well spent’.

8 Jeremy Doku - Increased by €47m

Current value: €65m

Since arriving at the Etihad Stadium, Jeremy Doku has made quite the impression. Quick, technically sound and a phenomenal dribbler, the Belgian winger has taken to life in the Premier League like a duck to water - and the tricky wide man becoming the latest player to notch four assists in one Premier League game attests to that.

Eyebrows were raised over his £55.5 million fee – but in hindsight, City will consider that a coup given the effect he’s had on their attacking play. Now worth €65 million, according to Transfermarkt, that value is only poised to increase should he continue how he has started.

9 Levi Colwill - Increased by €45m

Current value: €55m

After returning from Brighton & Hove Albion, Southampton-born Levi Colwill has proven his worth in west London this season, having registered 18 appearances in the Premier League, either at left back or the heart of the defence. In either position, however, he’s performed to a high standard.

Capped once by England, the 2003-born star is looking to become a nailed-on starter, all while donning John Terry’s iconic No. 26 shirt. Whether Colwill will be able to emulate the career that Terry forged remains to be seen, but to be playing so frequently for the Blues is a glowing representation of his talent.

10 Santiago Gimenez - Increased by €44m

Current value: €50m

An up-and-coming marksman looking to make himself a household name, Santiago Gimenez’s high-profile move seems just around the corner. Having notched an eye-watering 18 goals and four assists in 16 Eredivisie outings this campaign, the 2001-born star has caught the attention of many top sides – Tottenham Hotspur, specifically.

Already a 24-cap Mexico international, the world is Gimenez’s oyster. Ensuring he takes the next step-up at the perfect time could be the difference maker between whether he becomes a world-beating centre forward or not, but the early signs are certainly there. Watch this space.