Villarreal's Chukwueze Named Africa's Most Valuable U20 Player, 12th In The World

Published: May 06, 2019

Villarreal super teen Samuel Chukwueze has been ranked as Africa's most valuable U20 player in Europe's top five leagues by CIES Football Observatory.

According to the study by the Swiss-based organization, the Nigeria international is worth €35 million, which makes him the 12th most expensive U20 player on the planet based on transfer market valuations.

The fifty players on the list have been ranked according to their age, position, performance, contract duration, full international and other factors.

The 19-year-old Chukwueze is enjoying a breakthrough season at Villarreal, with 37 appearances under his belt in all competitions for the first team, scoring 8 goals and providing three assists.

The Diamond Academy product is on the radar of Liverpool and Manchester City ahead of the reopening of the transfer window on the back of his fine form for the Yellow Submarine.

Nigeria's U20 and U23 coaches and manager Gernot Rohr are all competing for his services ahead of international games in May and June.

At €150.3m, Borussia Dortmund's Jadon Sancho is the most valuable U20 player, followed by Arsenal’s Mattéo Guendouzi (€70m) and AS Roma’s Nicolò Zaniolo (€67m).

Ifeanyi Emmanuel