69 players updated 

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Liga Portugal becomes the first of Europe’s bigger leagues with a market value update. Altogether, 69 players competing in Portugal’s top division have received new market values as part of the latest intermediary update. At the top, there isn’t much change as Morten Hjulmand (Sporting) and Samu Aghehowa (Porto) remain the most valuable players in the league with a market value of €50 million each. Indeed, the only significant change is outside of the top 10.

Most of the market value updates focused on new arrivals. One example is Porto’s new defender Jakub Kiwior. The Polish center-back was offloaded by Arsenal last summer and is currently on loan at Porto, who have an option to make the deal permanent for €17m. As a result, Kiwior saw his market value drop from €28m to €25m. “It’s important to point out that the devaluation we made is not related to his performances on the pitch but rather to the transfer fee paid by FC Porto,” Area Manager Portugal Gonçalo Tristão Santos said.

It wasn’t all bad news at Porto, however. New arrival Victor Froholt is one of the biggest winners of the market value update. The Danish midfielder saw his market value increase by 83.3% from €12m to €22m. “Froholdt is a very young midfielder, only 19 years old, who has just joined FC Porto but has already secured a spot in the starting XI and has been one of the team’s best players, which explains why his value also rose to €22m,” Tristão Santos said.

Portugal market values: Suárez and Ivanović up – Two Braga stars in focus

Another new signing who has seen a significant increase in market value is Luis Suárez. The 27-year-old Colombian is the biggest winner by percentage, seeing his market value increase by 175%. “In the case of Sporting’s Colombian striker, we’re talking about a forward who had been valued at just €8m but cost the club €22.2m, so his market value had to rise,” Tristão Santos said. “On top of that, he had an immediate impact on the team and has already scored several goals in Portugal.” After scoring four goals and two assists in his first six Liga Portugal games, Suárez’s market value has now skyrocketed to €22m.

Indeed, new signings dominate the headlines of this update. Another new arrival is Franjo Ivanović. The Austrian-born Croatian forward joined Benfica from Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise this summer in a deal worth €22.8m. That fee had a major impact on his new market value. “Ivanović hasn’t had that much influence at Benfica yet, although he has already scored a couple of goals,” Tristão Santos said. “Still, he’s a young player with potential and cost €22.8M in the last summer transfer window, so we had to increase his valuation as well.” Ivanović saw his market value increase by €7m from €13m to now €20m.

The transfer fees also impacted the market values of two new Braga players. Pau Víctor joined Braga from Barcelona for €12m, and Mario Dorgeles arrived from Danish outfit Nordsjælland in a deal worth €11m. “Pau Víctor and Mario Dorgeles were both valued at €4m and jumped to €10m, essentially due to the transfer fees involved in their moves to SC Braga last summer, as they became the two most expensive signings in the club’s history,” Tristão Santos said. With a market value increase of 150%, Víctor and Dorgeles are part of a group of ten players in Liga Portugal with the largest percentage increase in market value.

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).