Messi, Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic and football's most valuable veterans
Suraj Radia
- Updated: 23 May 2023 08:46 CDT
- 4 min read
The evergreen Zlatan Ibrahimovic has signed a new one-year contract with Milan that will see him play for the Italian side at the age of 41.
The Swede was believed to be considering retirement after leading Milan to their first Scudetto in more than a decade but he will now continue for another season with the Serie A side.
With the veteran forward providing infinite worth to Milan despite his blossoming age, FootballTransfers takes a look at the most valuable players in the world aged 35 and over.
The value is dictated by a unique algorithm that looks estimates the worth of a player by utilising information based on data such as their skill, potential, recent performances and contract duration.
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Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain), age 35 – €42.8 million
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Lionel Messi is considered the most valuable footballer in the world over the age of 35, with the Argentine forward still retaining a value of more than €40m.
Messi is still considered the 88th most valuable player of all ages but his underwhelming season for PSG has seen his value decrease from €57m around the start of last season.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United, age 37 – €31.4m
With Cristiano Ronaldo looking to move on from Manchester United this summer, his current value is just over €30m, remaining steady since his €15m move from Juventus last year.
However, while Ronaldo still holds worth based on his stats, in the open market it appears that there aren’t many suitors for the 37-year-old and United would be lucky to receive anywhere close to his value should he be sold.
Thiago Silva (Chelsea), age 37 – €15.9m
There is a substantial drop in value as Chelsea defender Thiago Silva is deemed to be worth almost half of Ronaldo despite perhaps being considered more irreplaceable by his club.
The Brazilian defender is still considered the seventh-best ball-playing defender in the world and his value has actually increased in the last year, from a low of €6.6m to his current value of just under €16m.
Hugo Lloris (Tottenham), age 35 – €14.7m
Tottenham and France number one Hugo Lloris has seen his value shoot up by nearly a multiplier of five in the past year, having been €3.2m just a few months ago.
The 35-year-old had an impressive season, keeping the third-most clean sheets in the Premier League and is considered the sixth-best goalkeeper in the world despite his age.
Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), age 36 – €13.9m
Legendary goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has seen a little decline in recent years, in part due to his injuries which saw the Bayern Munich shot stopper miss six games last season.
The German is still one of the most valuable players in his age range but his value has decreased slightly in the past year by just under €2m.
Most valuable players over 40
Being a regular goalscorer in one of Europe’s top leagues sees Zlatan leads the way for the most valuable footballer over the age of 40 by some margin, with his €3.8m value worth double the next player in his age bracket.
The top five players over the age of 40 by their value are as follows:
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Milan), age 40 – €3.8m
Jesus Corona (Cruz Azul), age 41 – €1.9m
Gianluigi Buffon (Parma), age 44 – €1.8m
Joaquin (Real Betis), age 40 – €1.4m
Jorge Molina (Granada), age 40 – €1.4m
Read more about: Bayern, Man Utd, Milan, PSG, Tottenham, Cristiano Ronaldo, Hugo Lloris, Lionel Messi, Manuel Neuer, Zlatan Ibrahimović
