Bellingham 3rd, Mainoo 5th – Which players increased most in market value last season?

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Barcelona star top 

The 2023/24 season represented a memorable campaign for some of the best young players on the planet. While some youngsters like Kobbie Mainoo, Cole Palmer and Lamine Yamal enjoyed their breakthrough seasons, others reaffirmed their reputations as some of the best players in the world. 

Jude Bellingham enjoyed a sensational debut season at Real Madrid that culminated in winning the Champions League while Phil Foden was the best player in the Premier League as he became the fifth most valuable player in the world. Florian Wirtz was pivotal as Bayer Leverkusen embarked on an unbeaten domestic season to win the Bundesliga, while Warren Zaïre-Emery will inherit the mantle as the jewel in PSG’s crown with Kylian Mbappé leaving for Madrid. Ahead of Euro 2024 and Copa America this summer, Transfermarkt has released the market value updates for the top five leagues and beyond and we’ve analysed which players gained the biggest market value upgrades across the 2023/24 season.

Barcelona sensation Yamal’s €90m market value upgrade across last season was the biggest of any player in the world. The 16-year-old is already a key player in Barca’s first team and he provided 17 goal contributions in 50 games. Yamal will be one to watch at Euro 2024 with Spain and he’s widely regarded as the most talented prospect from Barcelona’s famed La Masia since Lionel Messi. 

As the graphic above illustrates, Palmer ranks second after a scintillating first season at Chelsea after moving from Manchester City. The 22-year-old was a revelation with 22 goals and 11 assists in 24 Premier League games – only Mbappé and Harry Kane registered more goal contributions across the top five leagues than Palmer’s 33. Bellingham sits 3rd after his market value rose by €60m across last season as he became the joint most valuable player in the world at €80m. Viktor Gyökeres is the only player in the top ten from outside the top five leagues after shining for Sporting Lisbon. The Swedish international joined the Portuguese giants last summer from English Championship side Coventry City and netted 43 goals. Mainoo completes the top five after enjoying a stratospheric rise last season with Manchester United. The 19-year-old only made his first start for United in December but he’s already a key player and scored the winning goal in the FA Cup final against Man City. Benfica’s João Neves, Bayer Leverkusen’s Wirtz, Girona’s Sávio, Bologna’s Joshua Zirkzee and PSG’s Zaire-Emery complete the top ten, while some household names feature in the top twenty – as shown below.