When Neymar signed for Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona in August 2017, for a whopping £200m (around R3,5 billion), football transfer fees really went bonkers.

PSG then also forked out the dough for Kylian Mbappe, in a deal that now looks like shrewd business, and the idea of getting a player on the cheap all but flew out the window.

When you consider what an impact the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo can have on a football club, those fees become somewhat more understandable, but neither feature in the top six of the ‘most valuable footballer in the world’ list.

Of course, that is only to do with their age and resale value, because both of those players would be the first on any team sheet around the world.

According to CIES Football Observatory’s algorithm, which has calculated the transfer value of the players in Europe’s top five leagues, the current top dog is the French World Cup winner Mbappe, who just turned 20 in December of last year.

In second spot is Harry Kane, who keeps on banging in the goals for Spurs, with Brazilian superstar Neymar in third.

Here’s the full top 20 – which goes Club (league) / Age / End of contract / National team: