Messi not the GOAT? Harry Kane trumps Barca star in valuation

Bengaluru, March 22: He might have won the Balon D’or for a record five times, but despite this phenomenal personal accolades, Lionel Messi isn’t as valuable to Barcelona as you may think. England striker Harry Kane is reportedly more valuable to Tottenham Hotspur than Lionel Messi is to Barcelona.

An algorithm constructed by the CIES Football Observatory (h/t Daily Mail's Adam Shergold) appraised players based on the biggest gap between their current value and the fee paid for them.

Both Harry Kane and Lionel Messi were homegrown players for Tottenham Hotspurs and Barcelona respectively. Which meant that their transfer fee was considered to be zero during the appraisal algorithm. This gave Harry Kane the edge over Messi calculating his valuation as £175million, while Messi was priced at £173million.

There’s no doubting that Lionel Messi has far more experience and personal fame than Harry Kane, but the age determinant is a crucial factor. Messi took a hit with his age as the Argentine superstar turns 31 this June, while Harry Kane turns 25 a month later. Also, amid speculations linking him to Real Madrid, he remains a hot property in the transfer market, offering more value for a long-term investment.

Meanwhile, Kane’s club and country compatriot, Dele Alli, who cost Tottenham an initial £5million from MK Dons in 2015 has a potential added value of £143million. Barcelona’s top priority, Antoine Griezmann, is valued at £138million by Atleti.

The figures however are just valuations of every player based on their respective transfer fees and performance till now and does not consider their buyout clauses.