Eagles value drops from €465m to €345m

Despite finishing second at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast last month, the Super Eagles suffered a massive drop in their squad market value, PUNCH Sports Extra reports.

The three-time African champions dropped down one step and are now ranked the 13th most valuable international team globally, while retaining their position as the most financially valuable team in Africa.

The Eagles boast players who ply their trade in Europe’s lucrative leagues, making them one of the world’s most valuable teams, with a total value of €345m, which, according to the official exchange rate of the naira on Wednesday, amounts to N555bn.

In December 2023, they were placed 12th with a market value of €465.90m.

The Nigerian squad’s value witnessed a decrease of €121m compared to the squad’s previous value.

The sharp devaluation was largely due to the number of injuries the players suffered in the build-up to the AFCON, forcing erstwhile manager Jose Peseiro to invite some players with little or no market value into the squad for the tournament.

Apart from the reintroduction of Leicester City midfielder, Wilfred Ndidi, Leverkusen midfielder Nathan Tella and Real Sociedad forward, Sadiq Umar, most of the players invited for the friendly games against Ghana and Mali are the bulk of the players that featured at the AFCON.

The latest information by transfermarkt.com does not include AFCON Most Valuable Player, William Troost-Ekong, Bayer Leverkusen sensation, Victor Boniface and Terem Moffi.

Also, the last valuation had Maduka Okoye, who is the only Eagles goalkeeper to hit the million valuation. The Udinese shot stopper has a market value of €2m.

Meanwhile, Africa Player of The Year, Victor Osimhen, who according to transfermarkt has a market value of €110m, is Nigeria’s most expensive player with his value worth almost half of the entire Eagles squad.

In the absence of Boniface, who is worth €40m, Atalanta forward Ademola Lookman, is the team’s second most expensive player with a market value of €30m.

Fulham star, Alex Iwobi, is currently ranked the third most valuable player in the squad with a market value of €28m, and while Samuel Chukwueze and Terem Moffi maintained their €25m valuation, Wilfred Ndidi has seen his massive €60m value drop to €16.

Players like Moses Simon, Calvin Bassey, Ola Aina and Frank Onyeka saw little rise in their market values. Punch