Rashford, Alexander-Arnold and the 10 most valuable stars to miss the Ballon d’Or shortlist

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:54 CDT
• 3 min read

The 2021 Ballon d’Or award celebrates the best performances in the world game over the course of the last year – but not every top player has made the cut for the 30-man shortlist.

Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Cristiano Ronaldo are among the world’s most valuable players and are naturally among those who have made the grade.

But what big stars have not? FootballTransfers has examined our list of the world’s most valuable players, which is calculated using an algorithm using hundreds of data points, and has picked out the 10 biggest stars who have failed to make the grade.

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Who are the biggest stars not on the Ballon d’Or shortlist?

All of the five most players in the world judging by FootballTransfers’ estimations have made the 30-man Ballon d’Or shortlist.

The first player who has not is Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford. He is not alone in the top 10 most valuable players in the world to miss out. Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus and Marquinhos of Paris Saint-Germain are also absent, perhaps somewhat surprisingly in the case of the central defender.

Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong has doubtless suffered as a result of his side’s troubles. Barca collapses in the Primera Division title race last season and slumped in the Champions League, counting against the Netherlands star, who has a value of €89.4 million.

Liverpool are one of three clubs to have a couple of players miss out on the top 20 most valuable players in the game, with their flying full-backs Trent Alexander Arnold and Andy Robertson both missing.

Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus is kept company in missing the shortlist by Ruben Dias while Bayern Munich are the other side to have two elite players miss out, with Alphonso Davies and Joshua Kimmich perhaps victims of being defensively minded.

While these are the most valuable players to miss out on the Ballon d’Or shortlist, it is worth bearing in mind that the FootballTransfers’ algorithm is based upon transfer and not necessarily quality, which means that older players of a similar standard to those above are likely to be seen as lesser as they typically command smaller fees. Kevin De Bruyne is an example of a player who falls into this category.