Football-Observatory.com: Lionel Messi is the most valuable player in the world

By Cork Gaines

Lionel Messi of Barcelona FC in Spain's La Liga is the most valuable soccer player in the world, according to the latest valuations released by Football-Observatory.com.
Messi was determined to have a transfer value of $287.6-315.5 million (255.3-280.9 million). That's more than a $100 million greater than any other player in the world.

While fans will argue about whether Messi or Ronaldo is the best player in the world, the one huge advantage Messi has over Ronaldo in terms of value is age. Messi (27) is three years younger than his Real Madrid rival. Ronaldo is one of just seven of the top 100 players who has already celebrated his 30th birthday, and he fell to No. 3 on this year's list behind Chelsea's Eden Hazard.

In addition to age, the player values are determined based on a formula that considers a player's performance, position, contract status, and experience, as well as his current team's performance and competition level, while factoring recent trends in spending in the transfer market.

Here are the 20 most valuable:

Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - $287.8-316.6 million
Eden Hazard (Chelsea) - $152.7-167.9 million
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) - $127.7-140.6 million
Neymar (Barcelona) - $101.0-111.0 million
Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) - $88.2-97.0 million
Raheem Sterling (Liverpool) - $83.1-91.3 million
Paul Pogba (Juventus) - $79.3-87.2 million

Diego Costa (Chelsea) - $78.8-86.7 million
Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) - $76.4-84.1 million
James Rodriguez (Real Madrid) - $70.5-77.6 million
Luis Suarez (Barcelona) - $67.6-74.4 million
Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid) - $66.5-73.2 million
Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea) - $66.2-72.7 million
Isco Alarcon (Real Madrid) - $64.5-70.9 million
Harry Kane (Tottenham) - $60.3-66.4 million
Gareth Bale (Real Madrid) - $57.8-63.6 million
Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool) - $56.8-62.6 million
Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea) - $56.7-62.4 million
Oscar dos Santos (Chelsea) - $53.6-59.0 million
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) - $50.3-55.4 million