Intermediary update in Austria
Transfermarkt has reassessed the market values in the Austrian Bundesliga halfway through the first half of the season in an intermediary update and, as it is often the case, the biggest changes have been made to Red Bull Salzburg’s players. The serial champions are at the top of the table having picked up 22 points from their first nine games and have the youngest squad in the league with an average age of just 22.1 years. Consequently, many of the youngsters from the Red Bull academy are on the way up.
Benjamin Sesko is currently making the headlines. The 19-year-old Slovenian is a regular starter in the Red Bulls’ attack and has been directly involved in six goals in the first nine league games of the season. In the summer of 2023, he will move to sister club RB Leipzig for €24 million. His performances and transfer fee make a significant upgrade inevitable. The former Manchester United and Chelsea target rises from €10m to €20m.
The biggest increase in the league now puts Sesko on par with teammates Luka Sucic and Nicolas Seiwald at the top of the market value rankings, which are dominated by the Salzburg side. Marco Grüll, the most valuable player not under contract with RB, only ranks 17th. The 24-year-old left winger of Rapid Vienna drops from €5m to €4m after a mixed start to the season and, together with SK Sturm Graz’s Otar Kiteishvili (-€1m to €2m), records the biggest drop in the league.
Sesko at the top – The most valuable players in the Austrian Bundesliga
Bundesliga update: Pavlovic on the up – Only one downgrade at RB Salzburg
Salzburg have to accept just one devaluation in the person of Antoine Bernede (-€0.5m to €2.5m), while there are no less than eight upward adjustments in the squad. In addition to summer signing Fernando (+€5m to €10m), Maurits Kjaergaard (+€4m to €10m), Dijon Kameri (+€3.3m to €4m), Amar Dedic (+€3m to €7m) and Nicolás Capaldo (+€1.5m to €8m), this also applies to Strahinja Pavlovic, among others.
With a jump from €5m to €8m, the 21-year-old centre-back receives his first plus since June 2020, when he reached a career high of €10m at Partizan Belgrade. Neither at AS Monaco nor during loan spells at Cercle Brugge and FC Basel he could subsequently meet expectations. At Salzburg, things are now looking better again. “Given his current performances, especially in the Champions League, we could have gone even a bit higher with Pavlovic,” market value admin Saviola92 said. “Should he also be able to establish himself at the back after the return of currently injured Oumar Solet in the fall, nothing will stand in the way of a further upgrade.”
At second-placed LASK, there are two players who stood out so far. Marin Ljubicic (+€1m) is now valued at €2.5m, while 22-year-old Japanese Keito Nakamura is up over 100% after a very strong start to the season, jumping from €1.5m to €3.5m. “The Japanese is considered a candidate for the 2022 World Cup,” Saviola92 said. “There is a strong chance that LASK will break their own transfer record (Victor Sá for €3.5m to Wolfsburg in 2019/20) in the future.”
How Transfermarkt market values work
The Transfermarkt market values are calculated, taking into account various pricing models. A major factor is the Transfermarkt community, whose members discuss and evaluate player market values in detail. In general, the Transfermarkt market values are not to be equated with transfer fees.
The goal is not to predict a price but an expected value of a player in a free market. Both individual transfer modalities and situational conditions are relevant in determining market values. Examples of this are listed below. Transfermarkt does not use an algorithm (you can find the detailed market value definition here).
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