The first place since last year continues to occupy the defender of Russian “Spartak” Oleg Ryabchuk, who moved to the Moscow club from Greek “Olympiacos” in August 2023 (see the market value of the player in the table below. – Author’s note.) Over the year, the 26-year-old footballer “cheapened” by € 1 million, but still tops the ranking with a large margin.
In second place is striker Ion Nicolaescu, who moved to Heerenveen from Beitar (Jerusalem, Israel) last August. In more than a year since the 26-year-old started playing in the Dutch top league, his market value has increased by 25%.
The top three of the rating is rounded off by the 31-year-old midfielder, captain of the national team of Moldova, Vadim Race, who has been playing in the club “Universitatea” (Cluj, Romania) since July this year. Before that he played in other Romanian clubs – Voluntari and FCSB. The period of his performances in these clubs was the peak of his market value – in 2021 and 2022, the authoritative resource Transfermarkt estimated him at €1.2 million.
Apart from Oleg Ryabchuk, two more players from the top 10 play in foreign championships of the post-Soviet countries. Nikita Motspan, representing Russian “Fakel”, and Vladislav Baboglo, playing in Ukrainian “Karpaty”, share the 4th place of the rating. By the way, after the transfer from CSF Balti to Fakel in July 2023, the market value of Nikita Motspan more than doubled.
The value of the only representatives of the Moldovan championship in the rating – Vladimir Ambros and Mihai Lupan (€1,05 mln) – is only 10% of the total value of the top 10 footballers. This indicator shows that Moldovan clubs do not have the resources to acquire high-quality domestic players, who are forced to move to foreign championships for further progression. Perhaps, this conclusion applies to a lesser extent only to the leader of the rating – Oleg Ryabchuk, who at the age of 4 years moved with his family to Portugal and has been practicing soccer there since childhood.
All Moldovan clubs practice attracting Moldovan footballers in the status of free agents. A player who leaves his previous club at the end of his contract goes to his new team for free. Clubs save on the costs of acquiring players, but the local transfer market suffers greatly, and the data on the real value of players is significantly distorted. As a consequence, the competitiveness of Moldovan clubs in the international arena is reduced, and the higher class of opponents is visible to the naked eye.
Our soccer functionaries should take an example from small clubs in the European scale, which have established the work of their academies and earn money on transfers of their pupils to the leading clubs in Europe. The example of Dinamo (Zagreb, Croatia), a club that does not reach the final stages of the Champions League, but is famous for its “forge” of first-class players, is noteworthy. Luka Modric, who was bought by the English club for €21 million in 2008 and then moved to Real Madrid (Spain). Eduardo, who in 2007 moved to English Arsenal for €13.5 million. Vedran Ciorluca, who in 2007 was acquired by English club Manchester City for €13 million. Mateo Kovacic, who in 2013 moved to Italian club Inter for €11 million and currently plays for Manchester City. All these players are Dynamo pupils and at the peak of their careers were highly valued by world-class clubs.
What prevents Moldovan clubs from making money on transfers of their pupils? Lack of infrastructure? Lack of sufficient sponsorship? Inefficient management? Lack of support from the Moldovan Football Federation? All these factors affect the level of Moldovan footballers. Only a few manage to become competitive on the international market of players. It is hoped that in the coming years the trend will change in a positive direction.
| Market value of the most expensive footballers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
№ |
Footballer |
Market value (as of 27.11.2024) |
Club |
| 1 | Oleg Ryabchuk |
€4 mln |
“Spartak Moscow (Russia) |
| 2 | Ion Nicolaescu |
€1.5 mln |
“Heerenveen” (Netherlands) |
| 3 | Vadim Race |
€750 th. |
“Universitatea” Cluj (Romania) |
| 4 | Nikita Motspan |
€700 th. |
“Fakel” (Russia) |
| 4 | Vladislav Baboglo |
€700 th. |
“Karpaty” (Ukraine) |
| 6 | Artur Krechun |
€650 th. |
“Puszcza” (Poland) |
| 7 | Vladimir Ambros |
€550 th. |
“Petrocub” Hincesti |
| 8 | Vitali Damashkan |
€500 th. |
“Maccabi” Petah Tikva (Israel) |
| 8 | Virgiliu Postolaki |
€500 th. |
CFR (Romania) |
| 8 | Mihai Lupan |
€500k. |
“Petrocub” Hincesti |
