Most valuable players in 2009/10: Barça dominate – Messi breaks Ronaldinho’s record

​

20 years of market values 

Barcelona started the season as the defending Champions League winners and defended its title in LaLiga, won the Club World Cup and created a new market value benchmark. For the first time, a club had three of the five most valuable players in its ranks. As part of 20 years of market values we look back to the most valuable players of every season all the way back to 2004. 

In 2009/10, 22-year-old Lionel Messi not only left behind Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo (24) but also broke the market value record of €80m. That record was previously held by his former Barca teammate Ronaldinho, who had been among the world’s elite since the creation of the market values in 2004. By 2009/10, Ronaldinho was at AC Milan, and his market value had collapsed to €28.5m. 

It was the first season in which Messi didn’t share first place. Ronaldo was second with a market value of €75m. The playmakers of their respective teams completed the top five. Xavi (€65m) and Andrés Iniesta (€60m) from Barca and Kaká (€60m) from Real. The two Spanish clubs dominated the top five of the most valuable players in 2009/10. 

The most valuable XI of the 2009/10 season also highlighted that Manchester United was still in the heyday of the Sir Alex Ferguson era. Although Chelsea won the title under Carlo Ancelotti, United dominated the market values of the Premier League. Among the big winners was 24-year-old Wayne Rooney (€53m). The English striker scored 26 goals in the Premier League, and only Didier Drogba was more successful in England. The most valuable player in England was Arsenal’s Cesc Fàbregas (€55m).