According to recent data, Leeds United employs five of the top ten most valued footballers in the Championship, with Archie Gray ranking among their best assets.
According to new analysis, five Leeds United players are worth more than £140 million, accounting for half of the Championship’s ten most valuable players. In a season that has ultimately seen the Whites surge to the top of the table, the data highlights the quality of Daniel Farke’s group.
CIES Football Observatory, a FIFA-backed research company that specializes in statistical study of the sport, has compiled a list of the top ten most valued players outside of the big five European leagues. Using a formula that examined 6,200 transfer payments over the last decade, CIES ranks Georginio Rutter, Wilfried Gnonto, and Crysencio Summerville as the three most valued players in England’s second division.
Rutter is worth £35.6 million, Gnonto £34 million, and Summerville £31.9 million. According to industry estimates, Archie Gray, who turned 18 last week, is now worth £23.7 million, ranking ninth in the Championship overall.
Illan Meslier, second only to Gavin Bazunu between the sticks, completes the top ten with a transfer fee of £18.5 million. Those five Leeds values total £143.7 million and highlight the Whites’ leverage when the summer transfer market opens.
According to the research, Rutter, the Championship’s leading goal scorer, is currently functioning at the price Leeds committed to pay for him in January 2023. Meanwhile, Gnonto and Summerville’s valuations have skyrocketed since joining Thorp Arch as under-21 prospects for far lower prices.
Rutter and Gnonto’s values are boosted by contracts that extend until 2028 and 2027, respectively, whereas Summerville’s term expires in 2026, limiting his present transfer worth, according to the model. Gray, on the other hand, is now worth more than all but six Championship contemporaries just seven months after making his professional debut.
All four outfielders are 22 or younger and have enormous potential, with their prices expected to rise into their mid-20s. Even Meslier, at 24, should see his value rise with time, even if he is currently worth several times more than Leeds paid for him in 2020.
The rest of the top ten includes four Leicester City players and Southampton’s Bazunu (£26.4 million in sixth place). Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (£30.9 million) is fourth, Wout Faes (£29.6 million) is fifth, Abdul Fatawu (£23 million) is eighth, and Stephy Mavididi (£20.1 million) ranks ninth.
