Soccer is a profitable and global industry. But which cities produce the best players? The specialized site Transfermarkt prepared a ranking taking into account the places of birth of the athletes and their combined market value.
Without room for surprises, the list is headed by London, one of the most important capitals on the planet and home to great Premier League clubs. The total, adding 2,708 professional footballers from there, amounts to 1.6 billion euros, with Bukayo Saka, Harry Kane and Declan Rice being the most expensive.
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In second place is Paris, a hotbed of players who combined give a market value of 688 million euros. Much of that figure is contributed by Kylian Mbappé, star of Paris Saint-Germain and the French national team.
Brazil is known, among other things, for producing the best players in history, and São Paulo stands out there, the birthplace of great stars such as Roberto Carlos, Cafú, Raí and Careca. Neymar, Casemiro, Gabriel Martinelli and Oscar are some of the most famous footballers born in the most populated town in the country and in the state of the same name who are still active.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 🌍 ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/xxAj4xoydz
— Transfermarkt.co.uk (@TMuk_news) April 3, 2024
Seven of the cities in the top 10 are European, three of them British: in addition to London, there is Manchester (Phil Foden, for example, was born there) and Birmingham (Jude Bellingham was born in a suburban town). The remaining three are South American: the aforementioned São Paulo, Montevideo (the Uruguayan capital is in 5th place) and Rio de Janeiro (in 6th place).
