The CIES Football Observatory, in its 539th Weekly Post, has released a list of the top one hundred Under-23 footballers with the highest estimated transfer values who are not yet under contract with one of the world’s ten most powerful clubs. These emerging talents are widely considered the future ‘gems’ of the transfer market. Kenan Yildiz, the promising young star from Juventus, unequivocally tops the ranking. The Turkish number 10 could command a value of up to 133.5 million euros, including bonuses and accounting for 100% of his playing rights. All players featured on this list have contracts valid until at least 2029, which positions their current clubs to potentially inflate the indicated transfer prices even further.
The CIES List: Most Sought-After U23 Players by Top Clubs
This exclusive ranking specifically excludes players already part of the ten elite global clubs, namely: Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, PSG, and Real Madrid. The top 100 list draws talent from twelve different national competitions, with the English Premier League boasting the highest representation at 25 players. Following Kenan Yildiz at the summit, the top three are completed by Inter’s Pio Esposito, whose value could reach 94.7 million euros, and Ivorian Yan Diomandé of RB Leipzig, estimated at 84 million. The top five further includes Cameroonian Christian Kofane from Bayer Leverkusen (81 million) and Porto’s Danish midfielder, Victor Froholdt (80 million).
