Stephen Dunmoye
Premier League highest goal scorer and Manchester City striker, Erling Haaland has made the list of the latest world’s most valuable starting eleven (3-5-2).
According to Transfermarkt, Haaland made the list alongside Kylian Mbappe, Bukayo Saka, and Phil Foden, among others.
The combined market value of the starting eleven amounts to a total of €1.25 billion.
Erling Haaland has enjoyed a near-perfect debut season as a Manchester City player in the Premier League. The towering striker can already tick off three trophies; the Premier League, the FA Cup and, of course, the UEFA Champions League. He ended the 2022-23 campaign with 52 goals in all competitions, and may soon receive one more individual award.
The Norway international is in the running for the Ballon d’Or but will face some stern competition to win the respected gong. However, Haaland has done his case no harm at all, and it seems an inevitability that he will win the accolade one day, if not this year.
On his part, PSG’s Kylian Mbappe is tipped to win multiple Ballon d’Or awards in the future. This could very well have been his year. After all, he picked up the Golden Boot at the 2022 FIFA World Cup and even scored a wonderful hat-trick in the final against Argentina, albeit in a losing affair.
Mbappe was once again Paris Saint-Germain’s main man as they won the Ligue 1 title. However, an early exit from the Champions League would have hampered his chances of winning the Ballon d’Or. Mbappe scored 41 goals and provided 10 assists in 43 appearances across all competitions for PSG in the 2022-23 season.
23-year-old Phil Foden made 48 appearances across competitions, of which 29 were as starters in the playing XI. Foden has, to his credit, scored 15 goals and eight assists this past season.
Foden, though, was not as regular in the playing XI as one would have anticipated him to be. After Manchester City defeated Bournemouth 4-1 in February, Pep Guardiola emphasised Foden’s importance in the team, saying, “He scored a goal, he was good, he is important. We need Phil, his work ethic. He scored a goal and assisted. He’s so important, step by step, he will be back.”
However, Foden didn’t start in either of the two matches for England in the recent international break. He was used as a substitute in both games. Hence, it’s fair to say that the 23-year-old is not going through the best moment of his career at the moment.
However, giving Phil Foden’s immense talent and his well-known work ethic, it might not be too long before the player finds himself back in the mix for both club and country.
Josko Gvardiol seems to be one of the most sought-after in the football market. Manchester City is rumoured to be stepping up efforts to sign the youngster after he indicated to RB Leipzig he was ready to leave.
Leipzig wants around £86 million for the 21-year-old. Previous club Dinamo Zagreb are understood to have a sell-on clause of around 20 per cent.
Guardiola is seeking to replace Aymeric Laporte with Gvardiol, who is expected to leave. Reports from Foot Mercato had earlier claimed the club were ready to break the bank in order to bring the 21-year-old to Manchester.
See the full list below:
Forwards: Erling Haaland (Manchester City, €180m), Kylian Mbappe (PSG, €180m).
Midfielders: Vinicius Jr. (Real Madrid, €150m), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal, €120m), Jude Bellingham (Dortmund/Real Madrid, €120m), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich, €110m) and Phil Foden (Manchester City, €110m).
Defenders: Matthijs De Ligt (Bayern Munich, €75m), Ruben Dias (Manchester City, €80m) and Josko Gvardiol (RB Leipzig, €75m).
Goalkeeper: Diogo Costa (Porto, €45m).
