Top 10 revealed
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There’s little doubt that 2024 has been an extremely eventful year in the world of football and here at Transfermarkt we have strived to cover the biggest and most interesting stories for our global audience. Whether it be market value updates of smaller divisions in every region of the world, or match reports from Wembley Stadium at the Champions League final, few websites can lay claim to the breadth and depth of coverage that our website provides hundreds of millions of users and readers each and every year. And now that 2024 is all but done, this week seems like a fitting opportunity to look back at some of the biggest stories from the last 12 months. So without further ado, here are the top 10 most read articles on Transfermarkt’s English domains over the course of 2024. To read any of the articles, be sure to click on the image underneath the headline.
10. Bayer Leverkusen hold Europe’s longest unbeaten run since 2000
(published May 22)
Kicking off the list was perhaps the biggest story in European football last season, as Bayer Leverkusen threw off the shackles of their old nickname “Never-kusen” and marched to their first ever Bundesliga title. To do that, Xabi Alonso’s side went unbeaten across the entire league season in Germany and ahead of their Europa League final against Serie A side Atalanta Tranfermarkt took a look at what made the German team so formidable and compared their unbeaten run to some of the very best in European football.
9. The Premier League’s current longest serving players at one club
(published August 21)
In ninth place on the list of the most read articles on our website was a countdown of the players that have played the most minutes in the Premier League for a single club. Once upon a time the concept of a “one-club player” was pretty common in English football, but the idea has lost much of its appeal in the modern era as lucrative transfer fees and sign-on bonuses have led to more and more players moving from one club to the next. As such, our article in August brought up a number of interesting names. Be sure to take a look a the list and see for yourself.
8. Top 50 highest average attendances in Europe 2023/24
(published May 30)
The 2023/24 season threw up plenty of drama across Europe, and fans loved it. Bayer Leverkusen romped to a surprise Bundesliga title, whilst Manchester City made history by winning four Premier League titles in-a-row. Real Madrid lifted a 36th La Liga, Inter Milan cruised to the Serie A title, and PSG made it nine titles from 11 seasons in France. But which clubs’ supporters turned out in the best numbers across the campaign? In May, Transfermarkt put together a list of the top 50 clubs with the highest average attendances across the whole of Europe in league games last season, and there were some very surprising results. Two clubs who are playing outside of their countries top-flight even make the top 20.
7. Which clubs have the most players and the highest combined market value at Euro 2024?
(published June 10)
Ahead of what turned out to be a fascinating and extremely dramatic Euro 2024, Transfermarkt broke down the market values of each player at the tournament to decipher which clubs had the most valuable players at the tournament and which ones had the biggest contingent of players playing across the many nations on show. Naturally, big stars like Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham were two of the biggest names at the competition but, rather curiously, neither player played for the one club that had more representatives at the tournament than any other side.
6. Messi, Ronaldo and Mbappé – the top ten highest paid players in the world
(published October 17)
Each year Forbes magazine publish their list of the top 10 highest paid players across the world’s most popular sport and to no great surprise former Manchester United and Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo remains on top. But which global stars are working hard to keep up with the 39-year-old talisman? In August, Transfermarkt broke down the top 10 and took a look at which players were rising and falling on the rankings, when it came to club salaries and big endorsement deals.
5. Top 15 players with most hat-tricks in their careers
(published August 27)
2024 was undoubtedly another remarkable year for Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, as he continued to score goals at an ever-increasing pace for the Premier League giants. With goals often come hat-tricks and following the towering striker’s three goals against Ipswich at the start of the year, Transfermarkt took a look at Haaland’s record to date and compared it to some of the sports greatest ever goal scorers. The Norwegian talent may not be no.1 on the list, but he’s certainly gaining on some of the biggest names in football.
4. Is Saudi Pro League over-spending a myth? Transfer fees far lower than most fans realise
(published June 26)
Saudi Pro League (SPL) clubs are widely perceived as spending lavishly on transfers, which provides an avenue for European clubs to offload unwanted assets – but how accurate is that narrative? The SPL skyrocketed in prominence after Cristiano Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr in December 2022 with the Portuguese superstar the figurehead for a new era, but our deep dive into the spending of the Middle Eastern top-flight questioned whether Saudi football was ready to dominate the transfer market quite as much as reports in Europe had and continue to suggest.
3. Man United 5th & Bayern Munich 15th – highest transfer net spends this summer
(published September 3)
Billions were spent by clubs across the world on new signings this summer, with Julián Alvarez’s €75 million move from Manchester City to Atlético Madrid the most expensive deal. No less than 15 deals were completed for fees of €50m or higher including Manuel Ugarte to Manchester United, Michael Olise to Bayern Munich and Pedro Neto to Chelsea. The ability for clubs to spend is increasingly determined by their ability to recoup money in sales due to financial fair play rules but which clubs had the highest net spends this summer? Shortly after the summer transfer window closes, Transfermarkt pulled out their calculator and figured it out.
2. Paris 2nd, Manchester 8th – which cities produce the best footballers in the world?
(published April 3)
With international football playing such a big part in the narrative surrounding football in 2024, questions over which countries produced the best players were at the forefront of most football fans’ minds this year. In April, Transfermarkt went one step further and using its huge database was able to identify which cities across the world could lay claim to producing most of the top-class talents in the sport today, as well as ranking the top 10 cities by their overall combined market value of homegrown players.
1. The most valuable pairs of brothers currently playing in the sport today
(published October 15)
For some families, producing just one son who becomes a professional footballer isn’t enough. Down the years there have been numerous occasions where sets of brothers have made it pro and showcased their talents to the world. Perhaps it’s the competitive nature of competing with your brother that spurs them on. Perhaps just being in and around a footballing family from such a young age. But who are the most valuable pairs of brothers currently playing? This year, Transfermarkt compiled a list of the top 30 most valuable pairs, and it made for some fascinating reading. Many top players you may not have even realised had a brother who is a footballer crop up on the list. Four pairs even accumulate a combined market value of €100 million or more.
Cole Palmer’s move from Manchester City to Chelsea left Pep Guardiola regretting his decision and the England international ranks second with his valuation increasing by €85m in 2024. The top five places are all held by LaLiga or Premier League stars- Pau Cubarsí, Vinicius Jr and Kobbie Mainoo. Two Bundesliga stars feature in the top ten in Omar Marmoush and Florian Wirtz, while Kenan Yildiz is the only player from Serie A.
