Auston Trusty: Arsenal defender now 2nd most valuable USMNT center-back

Arsenal defender Auston Trusty has seen his market value updated from €9 million to €10m as part of the Championship update. The 24-year-old defender spent last season on loan at Birmingham City, where he was a standout player. The new market value will make Trusty the second most valuable US men’s national team center-back behind Celtic’s Cameron Carter-Vickers (€11m). 

"Auston Trusty has been one of the bright spots in an otherwise rather disappointing campaign for the Blues and was voted Birmingham City’s player of the season,” UK Area Manager Daniel Busch said when asked about Trusty’s new market value. “The American defender has been ever-present and had no problems adapting to the tough and demanding Championship easily.”

Arsenal signed Trusty for just €1.8m from Major League Soccer side Colorado Rapids in January 2022 and then immediately loaned the defender back. Trusty then formally joined Arsenal in July and was immediately moved on to Championship side Birmingham where played 48 games (four goals and two assists) across all competitions. 

Auston Trusty: A number of clubs are interested 

“Having stood out in his first season in Europe, he could add a physical edge to the defenses of a number of Premier League teams as well and has also been linked with a move to Scottish giants Rangers,” Busch said. “Despite probably not having a chance to get regular minutes at Arsenal, Trusty could well be sold for a significant profit this summer.” 

A quick look at Wyscout underlines Busch’s assessment of the player. Trusty was third in the Championship with 386 defensive duels and second with 276 interceptions. Trusty won 7.98 duels per 90 minutes last season, which is a success rate of 69.8%. Impressive numbers considering that Birmingham played a difficult season finishing in 17th place. 

Hence, while Birmingham have had a disappointing season, Trusty and Arsenal might significantly benefit from the loan move. In fact, during his time in the Championship, Trusty has seen his market value increase from €1.8m to now €10m. In other words, the €1.8m paid for the defender to Colorado Rapids will almost certainly turn out to be an incredible investment by the Gunners.

How Transfermarkt market values work

The Transfermarkt market values are calculated, taking into account various pricing models. A major factor is the Transfermarkt community, whose members discuss and evaluate player market values in detail. In general, the Transfermarkt market values are not to be equated with transfer fees. 

The goal is not to predict a price but an expected value of a player in a free market. Both individual transfer modalities and situational conditions are relevant in determining market values. Examples of this are listed below. Transfermarkt does not use an algorithm (you can find the detailed market value definition here).