Top 10 revealed 

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On Wednesday night Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United will lock horns to see which club will be crowned champions of the Europa League for the 2024/25 season. While the trophy in itself is a major achievement for any European club, the tie itself will likely be remembered as something of a one-off showdown to see which of these two underperforming Premier League giants can salvage some semblance of success and respect from what has been a horrid season for both sets of fans. 

With one final matchday of the league campaign to play, Spurs and Man Utd currently occupy 17th and 16th in the league table respectively and will both be hoping to not only win Wednesday’s final for the prestige of adding more silverware to their trophy cabinets and the added bonus of qualifying for next season’s Champions League as Europa League winners. And while neither squad looks nearly capable of competing at such a level, based on their domestic form, the market values of each club would suggest that they’re currently lurking well below their apparent level in continental competitions. 

Indeed, with a total squad market value of €836.1 million Tottenham actually boast the ninth most valuable squad in all of world football. And, despite their troubles in recent years, their Old Trafford rivals on Wednesday also squeeze just inside the top 10 across the world with an overall squad market value of €699.25m. Not only do such numbers underline both club’s financial dominance of the Europa League this season – with the third most valuable squad in the competition being Real Sociedad at €388m – but it also means that Wednesday’s final is the most valuable in the competition’s entire history. 

As we can see in the graphic above, the combined market value of both squads ahead of Wednesday’s final stands at a staggering €1.53 billion and is the highest such figure for any final in the competition’s history. Although the Europa League is Europe’s second-tier competition, it has featured a number of the biggest clubs in the world in recent years, which is evident from the top 10 list. In second place is the London showdown between Chelsea and Arsenal in 2019 which stood at a combined market value of €1.51b, while Man Utd’s previous final in 2021 against Villarreal ranks third with a combined market value of €966m. 

To no great surprise, a number of the most valuable Europa League finals of all time feature English clubs, with no fewer than six of the top 10 featuring at least one Premier League finalist. And while Wednesday’s clash doesn’t quite rival the coming Champions League final between Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain, whose combined squad market value stands at an eye-watering €1.59b, there’s little doubt that when Tottenham and Man Utd lock horns on Wednesday it will feature a number of the most valuable players in the world. Now we wait to see which ones will step up and win the game for their troubled club and desperate fans.