Money Talks: Team Variables and Player Positions that Most Influence the Market Value of Professional Male Footballers in Europe

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyse different interactions of the variables (age, position, or quality of the team and the league) and the crowdsourcing Transfermarkt values of male players in the top European leagues. All players (n = 2259) in the five most highly valued European leagues—Spain, England, Italy, France, and Germany—from the 2017/2018 season were included in this study. Data were retrieved from the open-source football database (Transfermarkt). The present economic value (VPRESENT) and maximum economic value (VMAX) of all players with professional contracts were registered. Regression analysis evidenced a significant influence of the level of the team, the birth month, the league, the playing position and the age of the player on mean and maximum economic value (p < 0.05). This analysis confirms that the players participating in the UEFA Champions League, Premier League teams, playing as attacking midfielders, and born in the first quarter of the year are the most economically valued in terms of both current value (R2 of 0.33) and maximal value (R2 of 0.36). Therefore, international football entities must take into account the financial balance between competitions—and not only at the domestic level, as the attractiveness and balance of European competitions may be directly affected.