Liverpool star ranked against Lamine Yamal and Michael Olise as $159M transfer valuation emerges

Liverpool has five players inside the top 30 most valuable soccer stars in the world, according to the latest figures calculated by the CIES Football Observatory

Lamine Yamal is one of the best young soccer players in the world(Image: 2025 Quality Sport Images)

Liverpool star Florian Wirtz is sixth on an updated list of most valuable soccer players in the world, just behind Lamine Yamal (Barcelona), Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid), Erling Haaland (Man City), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) and Michael Olise (Bayern Munich).

The German playmaker, according to calculations from the CIES Football Observatory, is valued at $159 million (£118 million), which is marginally more than Liverpool paid Bayer Leverkusen for his services in the summer, including add-ons.

The next Reds man on the list is $145 million (£107 million)-rated Hugo Ekitike (13th), who is just behind Pedri (Barcelona), Julian Alvarez (Atletico Madrid) and Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa).

Making up the top 10 are Desire Doue and Joao Neves (both PSG) and Arda Guler (Real Madrid). Ryan Gravenberch (23rd), Cody Gakpo (25th) and Alexander Isak (28th) are all inside the top 30.

Wirtz has started to show his true quality in recent weeks, now having scored twice in the Premier League. With Isak, Ekitike and Mohamed Salah missing at Fulham, he took on the creative mantle and found the back of the net too.

"I am quite sure it was a relief for him," Slot said of Wirtz after he netted his first goal for Liverpool in the 2-1 victory over Wolves at Anfield in December.

Fulham players appeal for offside as Florian Wirtz scores for Liverpool(Image: Getty Images)

"I could see his reaction when he scored the goal, and it was the same with his teammates; they were really happy for him.

"In football, rightly so maybe, we mainly get judged on results, and individuals mainly get judged on goals and assists, and we sometimes forget what else is there to do during a game.

"And I think he has multiple good games for us, but I also think he is getting better every game he plays for us.

"He is getting fitter and fitter and was getting closer and closer to his first goal, and it is not a surprise he scores today. He will be the first to understand that one goal is not enough.

"So hopefully he will score many more goals for us than just this one. But I also liked his performance during large parts of the game today, I think he was special in a lot of moments."

"It was very nice," Wirtz told Premier League Productions after the same fixture. "The feeling on the pitch with the fans around [the stadium]… I was very happy, and I liked it!

"I was confident that I would score one day. Of course, I wanted to start scoring and assisting earlier, but it was like this. I had to accept it, but I just knew that it would come, and I just tried to keep going like that."