Who has missed out? 

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The Champions League is the apex of club football. No other competition holds as much gravitas across the globe. However, getting your hands on the famous trophy does not come easy, and some of the very best superstars to grace the field, still have an empty space in their trophy cabinet. To try and quantify some of the best players to never win it, we have used Transfermarkt’s famed market values to list the most valuable players, based on their career-high market value, to never win the Champions League.

The most valuable players to never win the Champions League

Players that had the same value have been ranked by the most Champions League appearances. Leading the way is Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappé. Despite playing 98 games in the competition with Monaco, PSG and Real Madrid, the Frenchman has never got his hands on the trophy. He has a current market value of €200 million. Barcelona teenager Lamine Yamal is also currently worth €200m; he is yet to get his hands on a Champions League trophy, but time is on his side to change that. In third is Englishman Raheem Sterling – he had a €160m market value in 2019.

There are then four players who have had a €150m market value and not won the Champions League. Antoine Griezmann and Harry Kane had that value in 2018, whilst Pedri is worth €150m now. Bukayo Saka reached €150m in 2024, but could get his hands on the trophy with Arsenal this season. Michael Olise (2026), Florian Wirtz (2025) and Alexander Isak (2024) have all reached €140m but never won Europe’s top club prize.