Market values Belgium: Nusa up by 400% - Hazard drops significantly

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The intermediary update of the Belgian Jupilar Pro League has seen a new player emerge at the very top. Royal Antwerp’s Arthur Vermeeren has passed Gift Orban (unchanged at €20 million) and, with a market value of €25m, is now the most valuable player in Belgium. Antonio Nusa saw his market value increase by 400% or €16m and now shares second place with Orban. Altogether, 184 players have seen their market values change in the update. Former Dortmund star Thorgan Hazard saw his market value drop significantly. 

Talented youngsters seem to dominate this update. That doesn’t include just Vermeeren (+€7m to €25m) and Nusa (+€16m to €20m) but also KRC Genk’s Bilal El Khannouss (+€5m to €18m), RSC Anderlecht’s Zeno Debast (+€3m to €13m) and Antwerp’s Mandela Keita (+€4m to €11m). “On the one hand, those talents continued their development from last season, and on the other hand, we see that the market is willing to pay significant fees for young players,” Area Manager Belgium Bart Tamsyn said. “The increase in market value for those players is, therefore, a reaction to them playing better and the prices paid for those kinds of profiles.” 

Market Value

A. Vermeeren Central Midfield

€30.00m

Vermeeren now has the same market value as Jonathan David when the striker left KAA Gent in 2020 for LOSC Lille and is not far removed from the €30m evaluation Charles De Ketelaere had when he left Brugge for Milan in 2022. “Vermeeren is the prime example of the new kind of Belgium football in which technique, tactical knowledge, and the ability to play at a high execution speed are combined, something, that, by the way, is also obvious when it comes to El Khannouss,” Tamsyn said. “Because of his age, the fact that clubs like Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus, and Liverpool are interested, and his debut with the Belgian national team suggests that he could be a record transfer that could be in the history books at his club Antwerp for some time.” Right now, Gastón Ávila, for whom Ajax Amsterdam paid €12.5m in the summer, tops that ranking. 

Market value update Belgium: Slonina biggest loser – Hazard also drops 

Among the 184 players updated, 51 dropped in market value. US men’s national team goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina (-€2.5m to €6.5m) is the biggest loser. The 19-year-old was loaned from Chelsea to KAS Eupen this summer, and his new team has struggled to start the season. Other players downgraded included Brugge’s Ferran Jutglà (-€2m to €8m) and Casper Nielsen (-€1.5m to €5m) as well as Anderlecht’s Anders Dreyer (-€1.5m to €6.5m), Standard Liège’s Moussa Djenepo (-€1.5m to €6.5m) and RWD Molenbeek’s Jeff Reine-Adélaïde (-€1.5m to €3.5m). 

Market Value

G. Slonina Goalkeeper

€5.00m

Hazard, who joined Anderlecht from Dortmund this summer, saw his market value drop from €7m to €6m. “The downgrade has several reasons,” Tamsyn said. “Anderlecht only paid €4m, and going from the Bundesliga to the Jupiler Pro League is a step backwards. Furthermore, he is already 30. Plus, his influence on games was far less than what we should expect from a player with his profile and quality, even if he contributed an assist in the last two games. He was never able to play the full 90 minutes, and he also lost his place in the national team this year.”

Market Value

T. Hazard Left Winger

€6.00m

Market value update: Jupiler Pro League on the up

Altogether, the Belgian first division is on the up and has seen its market value increase by €112m to now €945.19m. “The Jupiler Pro League has been a sellers league over the last few years,” Tamsyn said. “Clubs in the league always try to acquire talented players on the cheap and then sell them with a profit. The two transfer periods in the 2022/23 season showed a profit of €107m. It is, therefore, normal that the Jupiler Pro League sees its market value go up and down.” 

The most valuable club remains Brugge. The 18-times champions benefited from Nusa’s market value increase, but Andreas Skov Olsen (+€4m to €18m) and Maxim De Cuyper (+€3m to €8m) had significant upgrades, helping Brugge’s squad value go up to now €148.75m. Another club with an increase is Royal Antwerp. Vermeeren and Keita aside, Dortmund loanee Soumaïla Coulibaly (+€5m to €6m), George Ilenikhena (+€3.5m to €4.5m) and Michel-Ange Balikwisha (+€2m to €8m) all saw their market values increase. 

Market Value

S. Coulibaly Centre-Back

€8.00m

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).