793 players updated 

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Ahead of the European Championships and Copa América, Transfermarkt has updated the market values of 793 Major League Soccer players. While Inter Miami CF star Lionel Messi remains king at the top, with an unchanged market value of €30m, several players heading to the Copa América and European Championship have seen their market values change. Among the big winners of that group was New York Red Bulls star winger Lewis Morgan, who is set to represent Scotland in Germany this summer. 

“Morgan is back!” Transfermarkt Data Administrator North America Dominic Becker said. “After missing almost the entire last season with hip problems, he has returned to full fitness and has returned to his 2022 form. Now he is one of the top players at the Red Bulls.” The 27-year-old pacy winger has scored nine goals and three assists in 16 MLS games this season and earned himself a call-up by Scotland manager Steve Clarke. As a result, Morgan saw his market value increase from €4m to now €5m. 

Going the other direction is another New York Red Bulls national team star. Emil Forsberg has missed the European Championships with his country, Sweden. Indeed, it was surprising that Forsberg opted to leave RB Leipzig and join sister club RBNY this winter where he has become an instant star. “It isn’t that surprising that Forsberg took no time to adjust to MLS,” Becker said. “A player of his caliber could still help many teams in one of Europe’s top five leagues. But he also turned 33 in October, and a downgrade was impossible to avoid.” Hence, despite scoring seven goals and two assists in 14 MLS games, Forsberg saw his market value by 16.7% to €5m. 

MLS market values: Riqui Puig in top 3 – RSL stars Arango and Luna on the rise

Los Angeles Galaxy playmaker Riqui Puig is going in the opposite direction of Forsberg. The 24-year-old Spaniard has been outstanding for the Galaxy, scoring six goals and five assists in 16 games. “Riqui Puig is the central player for the Galaxy,” Becker said. “Almost every attack runs through or is being finished by him. In recent times he has started interpreting his role a bit more aggressively, which explains why Puig is already closing in on the amount of goal involvements from last season.” Puig’s upgrade by 25% is, therefore, consequential. With a market value of €15m, the Barcelona product is now the third most valuable player behind Messi and Atlanta United star Thiago Almada (€27m).

By the time of writing, the Galaxy with Puig were second in the Western Conference. The only team better were Real Salt Lake City, where two stars stood out: Cristian Arango and Diego Luna. Arango currently leads the league with 16 goals and four assists in 17 games. “The Colombian is a deadly finisher,” Becker said. “20 goal involvements in 17 games speak a clear language. Arango is one of the main reasons for RSL’s strong season.” Arango has scored every 90 minutes this season and is only slightly behind Messi’s a goal every 87 minutes pace. 

After a successful spell with LAFC, there was never any doubt Arango would be a star in MLS. Meanwhile, Arango’s 20-year-old teammate Luna is on the way to becoming a star in MLS. “Luna embodies the road to pro,” Becker said. “In 2022, he was still playing in the USL Championship. Now, he is a regular starter in MLS and is in the extended US men’s national team squad. And his path is far from complete.” Luna has scored four goals and three assists in 16 games across all competitions this season and has been on the radar of several European clubs. With that in mind, Luna’s market value was increased by 11.1% to now €5m. 

MLS market values: Gazdag and Lobjanidze receive Euro 2024 bump 

Of note, 38 players MLS players have been selected to the provisional Copa América squads. Eight more will represent their countries at the European Championships in Germany. While the earlier mentioned Morgan is one of the winners. Other players of note with upgrades are Philadelphia Union’s Hungarian star Dániel Gazdag (+€1m to €9m) and Atlanta United’s Georgian winger Saba Lobjanidze (+€1m to €3m). Gazdag and Lobjanidze received their market value update on June 10 alongside all other players traveling to the Euros in Germany.

How Transfermarkt market values work

The Transfermarkt market values are calculated, taking into account various pricing models. A major factor is the Transfermarkt community, whose members discuss and evaluate player market values in detail. In general, the Transfermarkt market values are not to be equated with transfer fees. 

The goal is not to predict a price but an expected value of a player in a free market. Both individual transfer modalities and situational conditions are relevant in determining market values. Examples of this are listed below. Transfermarkt does not use an algorithm (you can find the detailed market value definition here).