Lionel Messi tops 2014 most valuable player in the world

The Football Observatory at the International Centre for Sports Studies released its annual review for the 2014 season, and it contains estimated market values for the most valuable players in the five big European leagues.

The player valuations were made by a model that takes into account "age, length of contract remaining, position, player performance at club level for last and previous seasons (matches, minutes, goals, assists, passes, tackles, interceptions, etc.), results of the clubs to which players belong, as well as players' international experience and results of association represented at national A-team level."

When a player switches teams in soccer, the club buying him pays the selling team a transfer fee. This Football Observatory study estimates that transfer fee for each player.

C. Ronaldo followed him on the list, see the remaining the top 25 after cut..

1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Argentina) — $272-317 million

2. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, Portugal) — $144-167 million

3. Luis Suarez (Liverpool, Uruguay) — $134-156 million

4. Eden Hazard (Chelsea, Belgium) — $103-120 million

5. Neymar (Barcelona, Brazil) — $86-99 million

6. Paul Pogba (Juventus, France) — $83-96 million

7. Gareth Bale (Real Madrid, Wales) — $80-92 million

8. Mesut Ozil (Arsenal, Germany) — $67-78 million

9. Edinson Cavani (PSG, Uruguay) — $65-76 million

10. Mario Gotze (Bayern Munich, Germany) — $64-74 million

11. Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid, Spain) — $64-74 million

12. Oscar (Chelsea, Brazil) — $63-$72 million

13. Sergio Aguero (Manchester City, Argentina) — $62-72 million

14. Isco (Real Madrid, Spain) — $56-65 million

15. Raheem Sterling (Liverpool, England) — $53-61 million

16. Ross Barkley (Everton, England) — $50-58 million

17. Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich, Germany) — $50-$58 million

18. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United, England) — $50-58 million

19. Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool, England) — $50-58 million

20. Andres Iniesta (Barcelona, Spain) — $50-58 million

21. Mario Balotelli (AC Milan, Italy) — $48-56 million

22. Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea, Belgium) — $48-56 million

23. Juan Mata (Manchester United, Spain) — $47-54 million

24. Sergio Busquets (Barcelona, Spain) — $47-54 million

25. James Rodriguez (Monaco, Colombia) — $47-54 million

Some observations:

• Lionel Messi, who's the most valuable player in the world as well as the highest-paid player in the world, is nearly twice as expensive as the 2nd-most valuable player, Cristiano Ronaldo. That's because Messi is just 26 years old while Ronaldo is 29.
• Nearly every player in the top-25 could be described as an attacking player (23 out of 25, with Sergio Busquets and probably Paul Pogba as the lone exceptions).
• Eleven of the top-25 players play in the English Premier League, eight play in Spain, two play in France, two play in Germany, and two play in Italy.
• The youngest player (Raheem Sterling) is 19 years old. The oldest (Andres Iniesta) is 30.