Why it could cost £340m to buy Barcelona's Yamal

Lamine Yamal signed a six-year contract with Barcelona last week

Barcelona's teenage winger Lamine Yamal could cost about £340m to buy, according to a Swiss research group which has assessed the value of leading players.

The CIES Football Observatory has calculated the 17-year-old would command a fee of 400m euros - close to double Neymar's world-record transfer of 222m euros from Barcelona to Paris St-Germain in 2017.

The Spain youngster became the fifth-youngest player to make his La Liga debut aged 15 years and nine months.

He has scored 23 more goals than eight-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi had at the same age.

Yamal played a key role in Spain's Euro 2024 success - winning young player of the tournament and goal of the tournament - as well as lifting two La Liga titles and a Copa del Rey with Barcelona.

He won last year's Golden Boy award, given to the best player in Europe aged under 21.

The six-year deal he signed with the Catalan club last week includes a one billion euro buy-out clause.

"This extraordinary figure is linked to equally extraordinary performances achieved at an age - 18 in July - when most players, even the best, are just starting out at professional level," the study's reports said.

Its researchers work out the values of players using a statistical model it has created based on thousands of transactions over the past decade.

Yamal's value was increased by having recently signed the new contract.

Haaland, Bellingham & Mbappe: yours for £559m

Yamal, who turns 18 in July, is valued at £140m more than Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, 24 - who is in second place at €240m (£200m)

Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham is the most valuable England player on the list at €234m (£197m) with team-mate Kylian Mbappe landing a valuation of €193m (£162m).

Making up the top five is Bayern Munich and Germany forward Jamal Musiala, with a value of €155m (£130m).

The highest-value defender on the list is Barcelona teenager Pau Cubarsi at €118m (£99m) while Brighton's Bart Verbruggen is listed as the goalkeeper that would command the highest fee - €64m (£54m).

Wirtz to Garnacho: Who could move this summer?

Florian Wirtz has won consecutive Bundesliga player of the season awards

The 10th player on the list is Germany attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz, who looks set to join Premier League champions Liverpool for what is expected to become a new British record transfer fee.

The formula values him at €122m (£103m), which is lower than the Reds are reportedly set to pay to Bayer Leverkusen.

Alejandro Garnacho has been told he can leave Manchester United by boss Ruben Amorim and, according to CIES Football Observatory, the Argentina winger could command a fee of about €63m (£53m).

Liverpool received some money, £8.4m, from Real Madrid for Trent Alexander-Arnold - but nowhere his value of €69m (£58m) if he was not approaching the end of his contract.

Manchester City have agreed a €55m (£46m) fee with AC Milan for Serie A midfielder of the season Tijjani Reijnders - and the formula suggests City have got a bargain, with him valued at €78m (£65m) in the study.

Paris St-Germain winger Desire Doue, player of the match in the 5-0 win over Inter Milan in the Champions League final, is valued at €109m (£91m).

The 10 most valuable players in the world

1 Lamine Yamal (Barcelona) £340m. 2 Erling Haaland (Man City) £200m. 3 Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) £197m. 4 Kylian Mbappe (Real Madrid) £162m. 5 Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich) £130m. 6 Pedri (Barcelona) £121m. 7 Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid) £109.7m. 8 Cole Palmer (Chelsea) £106.5m. 9 Julian Alvarez (Atletico Madrid) £106m. 10 Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen) £103m.