The Real Madrid squad is worth double that of Atlético
As the two teams from the Spanish capital get ready to face off against each other in a crucial league game we look at how they compare in terms of transfer values.
The 22 squad members put together by Real Madrid have a combined transfer value in today's market of 707.3 million euros, twice that of Atlético which is valued at 358.5 million euros. The data comes from the highly respected website Transfermarkt, a German company that makes estimations of, among other things, the value of players which is used by many professionals who are involved in transactions across different European teams.
Breaking it down further, Real Madrid's most valuable player is, unsurprisingly, Cristiano Ronaldo, who was bought by Madrid in the summer of 2009 for 96 million. He is now valued at a profit-making 110 million. But it would seem that not all the big-money moves conducted at the behest of Florentino Perez are estimated as being profitable in the same way as Cristiano. This is the case, for example, with Bale. Los Blancos paid 100.7 million for him and he is now given a value of 80 million. Big signing James Rodriguez hasn't changed his value since joining and remains at 80 million. Another negative valuation seen is with Kovacic, who has dropped to 20 million after being purchased for 35 million.
Other players that have seen a perceived increase in their transfer potential include Benzema and Modric. Both of them joined the Spanish giants for 35 million and in today's market could be worth 60 and 50 million respectively. Marcelo, who was signed by Ramón Calderón in 2006 for 12 million would likely now cost someone around 30 million to prise him away from the Bernabeu.
Atlético Madrid's most valuable player is Griezmann who - again based on the calculations by Transfermarkt - could make Atlético 60 million this summer if they decided to sell. Next for the Rojiblancos is Koke, worth just 10 million less. Among their other most valued players are the likes of Godín (35 million) and Oblak (25) both who have recently renewed their contracts.
Will this huge gulf in squad value have much bearing on the result this weekend? The fact that Atlético go into the fixture ahead of their derby rivals in the league suggests not.