The 10 Players Whose Market Value Took a Hit in 2025
- Think Football Ideas
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
Which Footballers Lost the Most Market Value in 2025?
Value in football is a fragile thing. It swells with form, with confidence, with momentum. And then, quietly or all at once, it slips away. In 2025, some of the game’s brightest names discovered that truth the hard way. So, which footballers' values dropped the steepest in 2025?
At the top of this particular list sits Phil Foden, a footballer who still looks like poetry when the ball sticks to his left foot, yet whose market value has taken a heavy hit all the same. Almost half of it, in fact.
According to Transfermarkt, around £52 million has evaporated over the last year, a staggering drop for a player still very much in his prime.
It feels harsh. Foden hasn’t disappeared. Yes, he had a poor 2024-25 campaign, and so did the whole Manchester City squad, including the man at the helm in Pep Guardiola.
Foden hasn’t stopped trying. If anything, he’s clawed his way back into relevance this 2025-26 season, rediscovering rhythm as City once again presses toward the familiar territory of a title race. Ten goals, four assists, a return to the England picture under Thomas Tuchel, none of it screams decline.
But markets, like moods, are unforgiving. Last season’s wobble, City’s uneven campaign, and a sense that Foden briefly drifted from the centre of Guardiola’s universe were enough. Value slipped. Perception followed. He is not alone.
Just behind him comes Rodri, the metronome, the ballast, the man who once made City feel indestructible. His fall is easier to explain and harder to watch. Injury stole months from him.
A serious knee problem halted his momentum, and even now his body refuses to fully cooperate. Five league starts. Lingering hamstring trouble. A Ballon d’Or winner reduced to cameos and bench-watching. Nearly £48 million wiped away.
City’s difficult year leaves more fingerprints. Portuguese midfielder Bernardo Silva, once indispensable, now feels slightly adrift. Valuable, yes, but no longer priceless, and he is 31. His market value has sunk by close to £29 million, mirroring a season where Man City, and Silva with them, lacked their usual certainty.
Arsenal, too, have felt the chill. Martin Ødegaard’s season has been punctured by injuries, rhythm disrupted just as the Premier League race demanded constancy. The elegance remains, but availability counts for everything. A £30.5 million drop tells its own story.
Elsewhere, the slide feels heavier.
At Real Madrid, Vinícius Júnior’s year has unravelled in unexpected fashion. Once the heir apparent, the man tipped to own the Ballon d’Or conversation for years, he has instead drifted through a turbulent season.
A managerial change, uncertainty in his role, and a sharp drop in output - five goals across all competitions - have combined to shave more than £43 million from his valuation. The Saudi clubs will be pleased as they're keen to secure his services. Even now, his price remains enormous. But the direction matters.
Rodrygo and Eduardo Camavinga have followed similar paths. Talents unquestioned, futures still bright, yet both have struggled to flourish under new stewardship. Their values have dipped accordingly, subtle indicators of a Madrid side still searching for equilibrium.
Then there is Germany ace Florian Wirtz. A record-breaking arrival, a weight of expectation carried across borders. Liverpool believed in him enough to shatter records, but belief does not guarantee comfort.
His adaptation to the Premier League has been uneven, flashes of brilliance punctuated by long stretches of frustration. Transfermarkt reckon £26 million has already fallen away, a reminder that price tags cut both ways.
Barcelona’s presence on the list feels almost inevitable. Gavi’s value has slid sharply, the consequences of injury and instability colliding.
Ronald Araújo, once the defensive cornerstone, completes the top ten. Araujo is another casualty of a year where little at the Camp Nou felt settled, despite lifting La Liga and Copa del Rey crowns.
This list isn’t about failure. Not at all. It’s about how quickly football recalibrates its judgment. How form, fitness, timing and context can bend numbers in brutal ways. Because talent doesn’t vanish overnight. But value? That’s far more fleeting.
Top 10 Footballers with the Biggest Market Value Drops in 2025
Phil Foden (Man City): Value reduced by £52m to £65.3m
Rodri (Man City): Value reduced by £47.9m to £65.3m
Vinícius Jnr (Real Madrid): Value reduced by £43.5m to £130.7m
Gavi (Barcelona): Value reduced by £34.8m to £34.8m
Rodrygo (Real Madrid): Value reduced by £34.8m to £52.2m
Martin Ødegaard (Arsenal): Value reduced by £30.5m to £65.8m
Bernardo Silva (Man City): Value reduced by £28.7m to £23.5m
Florian Wirtz (Liverpool): Value reduced by £20m to £95.9m
Eduardo Camavinga (Real Madrid): Value reduced by £26m to £43.5m
Ronald Araújo (Barcelona): Value reduced by £26m to £21.7m
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