Alli, Kane worth more than Messi

Dele Alli and Harry Kane are both individually worth more than Lionel Messi, according to a new CIES Football Observatory report.

Barcelona forward Neymar tops Europe with a staggering £186m projected price tag, followed by Alli (£137m), Kane (£135m), Messi (£134m) and Manchester United target Antoine Griezmann (£132m).

The research group calculates values by the performance of players and their clubs in Europe’s top five leagues, international status, contract, age and position.

Atletico Madrid striker Antoine Griezmann is the fifth-most expensive player at £132m, followed by Barcelona’s Luis Suarez on £124m.

The report suggests Manchester United’s £93.25m world-record signing Paul Pogba is now worth £119m and Chelsea’s Eden Hazard would cost potential suitors around £104m.

Other Premier League players in the top 20 include Kevin De Bruyne (£98m), Romelu Lukaku (£93m), Raheem Sterling (£87m), Alexis Sanchez (£85m) and Roberto Firmino (£75m).

Tottenham’s Eric Dier is also valued at £75m, ahead of Sergio Aguero, Diego Costa (both £74m) and teammate Christian Eriksen (£73m), while new Manchester City signing Bernardo Silva (£71m) ranks above Leroy Sane (£66m) and John Stones (£63m).

Perhaps surprisingly, Manchester United forward Anthony Martial (£65m) is considered to be worth more than England international Marcus Rashford (£62m).

In context, Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale is a potential bargain at £59m, making the out-of-favour winger only the 43rd most expensive player in Europe - despite costing Los Blancos a then-world record £85m fee nearly four years ago.