CIES Release "Most Valuable" List Containing Four Liverpool Players

If you've been struggling to figure out how much your favourite players might be worth should they get snapped up by another club this season, fear not! The fine folks at CIES Football Laboratory -- the ones who determined Dejan Lovren was the best centre back in the Premier League in a season where he was anything but -- have just released a very timely list of the Top 100 most valuable players in Europe's top five leagues.

Four Liverpool players found themselves on the list including Philippe Coutinho, who was the only Red to crack the top 50 when he wound up in 27th place thanks to his £41 million valuation. Next in line was Emre Can in spot #59 and worth £31 million. Roberto Firmino was close behind, having been ranked 65th and worth £30m, with Jordon Ibe making a very surprising appearance near the end of the list at number 95, having been valued at £23.7 million.

Liverpool fans may be disappointed more of the team's players aren't on the list, though it's important to keep in mind that the factors that go into CIES' algorithm are not made known as part of their report, nor is the ranking of a player necessarily indicative of his value in general just his value on the transfer market at this exact moment. Marco Reus, perpetual target for Liverpool fans, barely makes it onto the list at spot #96 -- yes, behind Jordon Ibe.

At the end of the day, it's best to treat this one as a springboard for fun discussion but perhaps not something to take too seriously, no matter CIES' claims towards accuracy between the rates players actually go for and the rates on their list. Whether or not Philippe Coutinho is only worth £41 million isn't particularly relevant to Reds fans who won't want to sell him for that amount, and with the Premier League TV money likely to dramatically skew transfer fees this summer, CIES might find their accuracy dipping slightly next time they run their numbers.