Barcelona forward Neymar Jr. has been named as the most valuable football player on the planet ahead of the likes of Lionel Messi and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, according to a new in-depth study.

The 25-year old Brazilian international is valued at a staggering £185 million and is way ahead of second placed Dele Alli who is rated at £137 million. The CIES Football Observatory study has taken numerous factors into account on deriving the value of each player.

Some of the factors that were considered are performances of both players and employer clubs, international status, contract, age and position. The age of Neymar played a huge role in the recent rating as he is much younger than both Messi and Ronaldo who are currently 29 and 32 years.

Messi also has only one year left on his Barca contract and there are talks going on over a new deal which made his value £134m. Meanwhile, Ronaldo who has won back to back Champions League trophies have managed only 11th position and is valued at £99m.

Ronaldo is also the oldest player to make the list while French youth prodigy Kylian Mbappe has also made the list. He managed an impressive £81m and is ranked at 18th position. Other notable players to make the top 10 are Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann who is valued at £132m while Manchester United’s Paul Pogba is also ranked at the seventh position at £119m.

World’s most valued footballers

1. Neymar, Barcelona, £185m ($234m)

2. Dele Alli, Tottenham, £137m ($173m)

3. Harry Kane, Tottenham, £135m ($171m)

4. Lionel Messi, Barcelona, £134m ($170m)

5. Antoine Griezmann, Atletico Madrid, £132m ($167m)

6. Luis Suarez, Barcelona, £124m ($157m)

7. Paul Pogba, Manchester United, £119m ($150m)

8. Gonzalo Higuain, Juventus, £106m ($134m)

9. Eden Hazard, Chelsea, £104m ($131m)

10. Paulo Dybala, Juventus, £102m ($129m)