20 years of market values 

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In 2010/11, Barcelona won the Champions League for a third time after beating Manchester United in the final and dominated LaLiga. The Red Devils won the 19th national championship, becoming England’s sole record champion. In Germany, a certain Jürgen Klopp led Borussia Dortmund to their first league title since 2002. 

As part of 20 years of market values on Transfermarkt, we review the most valuable players of every season since 2004. In 2010/11, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were the two dominant names. Messi, who once again won the Ballon d’Or, became the first player in history to achieve a market value of €100m. 

Real Madrid’s Ronaldo remained close on his heels with a market value of €90m. The evaluation was also reflected in the list of top scores. While Messi was directly involved in 80 goals across 55 games, Ronaldo managed 71 scorer points in 54 matches. In terms of squad value, Barca (€554m) also dominated ahead of Real Madrid (€515m), Chelsea (€424m), Man City (€390m) and Man United (€387m). 

With a gap of €25m and €30m behind Ronaldo, respectively, were Barca’s Xavi (€65m) and Andrés Iniesta (€60m), who won the World Cup with Spain in the summer of 2010. Then Premier League stars Wayne Rooney from Manchester United and Arsenal’s Cesc Fàbregas (€55m) followed. Rooney was the only scorer in United’s 3-1 defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League final. Rooney aside, Nemanja Vidic (€37m) also made it in the most valuable XI of the season, which was dominated by Barcelona and also included defender Gerard Piqué (€35m).