Biggest market value losers in 2022: Lukaku drops the most - Three Man Utd players in top 5

Hardly any other player in football has seen his market value drop as dramatically this year as Inter Milan’s Chelsea loanee Romelu Lukaku, who also failed to meet expectations in Italy. RB Leipzig striker Timo Werner also left Stamford Bridge in the summer and suffered an even greater decrease percentage-wise since the start of the year, with his market value falling by as many millions over the past twelve months as that of Manchester United winger Jadon Sancho.

Lukaku saw his market value of €100 million, which was even slightly lower than the transfer fee of €113m paid by Chelsea, dwindle by almost half after three market value updates in England and, most recently, in Italy. Compared to the beginning of January, the 29-year-old lost 45% until the end of December and currently stands at only €55m. “Lukaku returned with great expectations, but unfortunately was only on the pitch five times,” Jatin Dietl, Transfermarkt’s Area Managar in Italy, said. Just like in March and August, when the striker was still at Chelsea, he went down by another €15m at Inter in November. At the World Cup, Belgium were already eliminated in the group stages, also because of missing goals from Lukaku.

The injured Werner was also unable to travel to the World Cup, but this is not the main reason for the loss of half of his market value since the beginning of the year. Lukaku’s former Chelsea teammate had already experienced significant drops in three updates in England and the Bundesliga before. From his previous value of €50m in January, only €25m are left in December. Following a solid first season at Stamford Bridge, Werner’s playing time and goal contributions gradually declined. “As harsh as it may sound, players of Werner’s calibre are expendable in England,” market value admin Julius Weissenstein said, explaining the devaluation following the 26-year-old’s return to Germany.

Market value losers in 2022: Man Utd ready to bounce back under ten Hag?

In addition to Sancho, who dropped by €25m to €60m in course of the year, Man United have two further players in the top 5 of the biggest market value losers in 2022. While Raphaël Varane dropped from €65m to €40m since January, Marcus Rashford even lost €30m in his last three updates. Now standing at €55m, the 25-year-old has recently rediscovered his from under Erik ten Hag and, like several other United players as well, could bounce back in the next Premier League market value update after the winter transfer window comes to a close.

Further footballers from the English top tier that suffered significant drops in market value in 2022 are Leicester duo Caglar Söyüncü (-€23m to €22m) and Wilfred Ndidi (-€20m to €40m), Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (-€20m to €80m) and Chelsea veteran N'Golo Kanté (-€20m to €30m), among others. The latter two were mainly downgraded for age-related reasons, however.