Which Premier League starts dominate their squads with biggest share of market value?

​

Arsenal 8th 

The start of the new Premier League season is just around the corner and as such most clubs in the English top-flight are more or less settled on the squads that they hope will take them to new heights in the coming league campaign. And while there may be plenty of new faces set to join clubs before the end of the summer transfer window, we can already take a look at each squad to decipher which teams are well-balanced and which ones may be over-reliant on star players, by looking at the percentage of overall squad value each club’s most valuable player takes up. So let’s take a look at the numbers. 

Naturally, such metrics would usually do a good job of underlining if smaller clubs have particularly valuable individuals in their squad. And when we take a look at the top 10 we can see that there are plenty of examples of that. The most notable one is undoubtedly Ipswich Town central defender Jacob Greaves, whose market value of €15 million makes up no less than 16% of his squad’s entire market value. Similarly, West Ham forward Lucas Paquetá makes up no less than 14% of his squad’s value with a market value of €65m, which is slightly more than the share Bruno Guimarães (13%) and Eberechi Eze (13%) boast in the Newcastle and Crystal Palace squads respectively. However, such statistical quirks aren’t limited to the Premier League’s mid-table or recently-promoted clubs. As we can see, last season’s title-challengers Arsenal have a star of their own in Bukayo Saka who makes up 12% of his squad’s market value with a market value of €140m. And the one player that dominates the most market value in his squad over all other players in the English top-flight is none other than Erling Haaland, whose market value of €180m is not only the highest in the entire Premier League but also makes up 17% of the total value attributed to Pep Guardiola’s squad. 

While these numbers don’t specifically suggest that the aforementioned clubs are over-reliant on their most valuable players, the opposite would perhaps hint at squads that are more finely-balanced. For example, at the opposite end of the table are none other than Chelsea, with their most valuable player, Cole Palmer, making up just 7% of the squad’s overall market value. Just above them are Liverpool, who new manager Arne Slot will be delighted to learn have a MVP in Alexis Mac Allister who only makes up 8% of the squad’s value. And despite being one of the most talented players in the division, Bruno Fernandes only makes up 9% of Manchester United’s overall squad value – an identical figure to Evan Ferguson’s total for Brighton and James Maddison’s share of Tottenham Hotspur’s overall squad market value.