Liga Portugal market values: Neves at the top - Gyökeres surpasses Lukaku and Richarlison

For the first time in a long time, there are six footballers in Portugal with a market value of more than €40 million - four players now share first place in the market value ranking. All 477 players in the Liga Portugal have been re-evaluated and the big winners are once again João Neves of Benfica and Sporting's Viktor Gyökeres and Ousmane Diomande. While Benfica and Porto have seen their squad values fall slightly, league leaders Sporting have risen to become the 36th club worldwide to break the €300m mark.

The fact that things are going well for Sporting is also due to the transfers made in 2023, which were expensive by Portuguese standards. "Sporting have hit the jackpot with Hjulmand, Gyökeres and Diomande," Transfermarkt's Portugal expert Marcel de Almeida said. "They haven't managed that very often in recent years. The transfer strategy has been adjusted somewhat: Better to spend more and get quality instead of quantity for lower fees. That pays off."

The trio arrived for a total of €45.5m and are worth €111m after this update. Centre-forward Gyökeres, who has been involved in 25 goals in 20 games since his transfer, has risen from €32m to €45m, talented defender Diomande has climbed from €25m to €40m and midfielder Morten Hjulmand from €24m to €26m. In terms of market value, Gyökeres thus overtakes Roma's former Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku and Tottenham's Richarlison, among others. "At least one, if not two, could be sold in the summer for a high transfer profit," de Almeida said.

Despite ten downgrades and only five upgrades, Sporting's squad value has climbed by €27.8m to €308m - meaning the Leões have overtaken Porto (€286m) in the league rankings, while Benfica (€358m) are still clearly at the top despite a slight drop of €2.5m.

Market values: Benfica talent Neves at the top - four players share 1st place

At €25m, the biggest plus of the update goes to Benfica's home-grown talent Neves, who, according to Portugal expert de Almeida, is currently the best player in the league together with Gyökeres. The talented midfielder, who is now valued at €45m, is not only the most valuable player in Liga Portugal together with team-mate António Silva, Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa and Gyökeres, but also the second most valuable defensive midfielder up to the age of 21 worldwide. In the ranking of the most valuable Portuguese players, Neves now makes the top 15.

Market Value

J. Neves Defensive Midfield

€45.00m

"In Antonio Silva and Joao Neves, Benfica have two players from their own youth ranks who are the next candidates for a sale,” de Almeida said. “There is interest in both of them from the Premier League and LaLiga. January will show whether Benfica can withstand the offers or whether there will be a similar case as with Enzo Fernández in 2023.” In the summer at the latest, it will be exciting for the three big clubs to see which stars want to stay and which want to leave or have to be sold to improve the balance sheets.

"The final table will have a big influence on the summer transfers” de Almeida said. “Liga Portugal only has one safe starting place in the Champions League and that goes to the league winners. The runners-ups have to play qualifiers and the third-placed team goes into the Europa League. This means that one of the big three will come away empty-handed and will be forced to sell.”

Liga Portugal update: Di María and Taremi among market value losers

Among the market value losers this time are big names such as Sporting's Pedro Gonçalves (-€4m to €28m), Porto's Mehdi Taremi (-€6m to €12m) and Benfica's Ángel Di María (-€3m to €5m) due to his age.

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).