FC Barcelona Now Has World’s Most Expensive $458 Million Player

FC Barcelona now boasts the world’s most expensive soccer player according to a CIES Observatory report shared by Mundo Deportivo.

Lamine Yamal has been on Barca’s books since he was seven years of age, which is when its famous La Masia academy first scouted him.

Tearing through different age groups and often playing against those older than him, Lamine then made his senior first team debut aged 15 in 2023.

Between that landmark and becoming a Ballon d’Or contender or Euros winner with Spain, Blaugrana president Joan Laporta confirmed that recently-crowned Champions League king Paris Saint-Germain tried to tempt Barca with a huge bid for the prodigy.

MARCA had reported around the time how the Catalans received a mouthwatering $228 million (€200 million) proposal from PSG for its number 2019, which Laporta spoke about on his podcast in March 2024.

“We have offers for players like Lamine Yamal worth €200 million, and we have said no,” Laporta said.

“Because we trust in the boy, in his sporting projection, and we don’t have the need [to accept]. On the contrary. We are in a process of economic recovery and can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Laporta added.

If the CIES Observatory’s latest report is anything to go by, however, PSG’s bid was lowball when considering what Lamine is actually worth.

That is no less than $459 million (€402.3 million), which is an astronomical sum also some way in front of second place Manchester City striker Erling Haaland on $273 million (€239.6 million), third placed Jude Bellingham rated at $266.6 million (€233.8 million) and the Englishman’s Real Madrid teammate Kylian Mbappe who joined from PSG on a free transfer last summer but is now worth $219.5 million (€192.5 million).

As for the second most expensive Barca player, that was Lamine’s club and country companion Pedri on $164 million (€143.7 million), who cost an initial bargain fee of $5.7 million (€5 million) from Las Palmas in 2019.

FC Barcelona is unlikely to ever sell Lamine, despite his price tag

Despite it still battling Financial Fair Play issues, FC Barcelona is unlikely to ever sell Lamine even if someone tabled such a huge amount of money to take him away. The teenager is simply unreplaceable, and recently committed his future to the club of his life by signing a new contract until 2031.