141 players updated 

©TM/IMAGO

The Eredivisie becomes the latest European top league with new market values. On Monday, Transfermakt updated the market values of 141 Eredivisie players. While there has been no movement at the top, where PSV Eindhoven’s Johan Bakayoko (€45m) remains first, there has been some movement in the top 10. While Feyenoord’s Santiago Gimenez remains second with a market value of €40m, he no longer shares that spot with PSV’s Joey Veerman, who was one of the losers of the market value update. 

Veerman was downgraded by €5m to now €35m, falling to third place in the overall ranking. The PSV midfielder now shares that place with among others, teammate Jerdy Schouten, who saw his market value increase from €28m to €35m. “Veerman and Schouten are perhaps one of the more interesting things to highlight,” Transfermarkt Area Manager Netherlands Kevin Lux said. “Both had crucial roles in PSV’s championship season but had completely different offseasons.  Both were selected for the Dutch national team during the Euros. Where Schouten flourished, Veerman disappointed heavily in Germany.” 

The two then also had very different stories during the transfer window. “During the transfer window, Schouten attracted a lot of interest from Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund, while no interest and rumors surrounded Veerman,” Lux said. “That’s why Vreeman dropped from €40 to €35 million. Schouten was awarded a raise of €7 million, climbing from 28 to 35 million.” 

Eredivisie market values: Tillman up – Timbers and Hwang impress 

Schouten wasn’t the only standout player at PSV for this update as US men’s national team player Malik Tillman received an update of €5m to now €25m. “Tillman started the season well at PSV, scoring four goals in eight Eredivisie matches,” Lux said. “Last season, he played often, but was not one of the main starters. This season, he seems to have won manager Peter Bosz over with his qualities and versatility. In the first eight matches, Tillman played at three different positions, scoring a goal every time.” 

Over at Feyenoord, midfielder Quinten Timber continues to impress. “Timber, together with Schouten, is the biggest winner of the update,” Lux said. “He fits more or less the same category as Tillman. Last season, Timber played often, but this season, he became a prominent starter. He even got the captain’s armband from new coach Brian Priske. Timber seems to have taken the next step in his development, proving to be a more complete player than before.” Timber’s market value is up €7m to now €35m. 

Also on the up is Timber’s teammate and former Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder In-beom Hwang. Hwang turned out to be an instant sensation in his first few matches,” Lux said. “The season is still young, but the Korean is the ideal replacement for Mats Wieffer (now Brighton). Hwang reads the game well, is both defensively and offensively solid, and has given Feyenoord the spark needed to turn around matches. Hwang is one of the few players in Rotterdam who has been an asset in European matches.” Once a promising MLS prospect, Hwang has seen his career blossom after unorthodox stops in Kazan, FC Seoul, Olympiacos, and Crvena zvezda. The €10m market value is a new personal record for the 28-year-old Korean. 

Dutch market values: Twente’s Hilgers up – Ajax goalkeeper Diant Ramaj down

Away from PSV and Feyenoord, there have also been some significant changes. At Twente Enschede, 23-year-old defender Mees Hilgers had a strong start to the season. “Hilgers has shown his qualities in European matches against Man Utd and Fenerbahçe,” Lux said. “He is still only 23 but has been a prominent starter for Twente for four years. Yet, no clubs seemed willing to pick him up so far, but when he continues to play like this, he might finally get some attention from bigger clubs this winter. He also recently became an Indonesian international, which can be both positive and negative. He finally can play international matches, but the door to the Dutch national team is closed for good.” With a market value increase of 42.9%, Hilgers is one of the biggest winners of the Eredivisie update. 

One of the biggest losers is Ajax goalkeeper Diant Ramaj. “He ended last season as the first-choice goalkeeper at Ajax and attracted interest from clubs like Arsenal,” Lux said. “That was the reason why we upgraded him in the last market value update of last season. With a market value of €18 million, he became the most valuable keeper in the Netherlands, but the interest of Arsenal cooled off, and he stayed in Amsterdam.” New head coach Francesco Farioli favors the more experienced Remko Pasveer this season. Without being sold and with no playing time on the horizon, Ramaj saw his market value drop by 44.4% from €18m to €10m.

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).