Alan Shearer and Micah Richard were both shocked upon being told the most valuable player in world football.
Speaking on the Rest is Football podcast, Gary Lineker asked his fellow co-hosts to name the top ten most valuable players in world football.
With both Shearer and Richards selecting Manchester City’s Erling Haaland as the world’s most valuable player, Lineker gleefully revealed that in fact, Jude Bellingham tops the CIES’ list.
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Shearer muttered: “Really”, while Richards said: “Hold on. He’s got the English tax though, doesn’t he? A [English] player goes for about 20 per cent more than they are valued at.”
Lineker responded: “He’s playing at Real Madrid. And I suspect that it’s the length of contract that comes into this as well because he’s only just gone there.”
The Match of the Day host then asked the pair to guess the value, with Shearer replying with €210million (£180.5million) and Richards going for a more conservative €190million (£163million).
Richards bellowed: “Wowzers” as Lineker revealed: “Well, according to this Jude Bellingham’s value currently is €267.5million (£230million).”
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Bellingham has enjoyed a stellar first half-season at Real Madrid.
Since his £113million summer switch from Borussia Dortmund, the 20-year-old midfielder has netted 17 strikes in 23 appearances in all competitions, including 13 La Liga goals.
Moreover, the England international broke Cristiano Ronaldo’s record for the most goals scored in a player’s first 15 games at Madrid
According to the CIES Football Observatory statistical model, Bellingham is now the most valuable player in the world, with Haaland the second most valuable player in the world at €251.2million (£216.73million).
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Real’s Brazilian duo Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo are the third and fourth on the list, worth €250.3million (£215.96million) and €247.9million (£213.89million) respectively.
Arsenal star Bukayo Saka rounds off the top five, with CIES Football Observatory valuing the winger at €223.0million (£192million).
Topics: Football, Alan Shearer, Micah Richards, Jude Bellingham