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With the season in Italy wrapped up, Transfermarkt has updated the market values of 534 Serie A players. This time, there is some movement at the very top. While Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martínez remains first with a market value of €85m, there is a young star catching him. With a market value increase of +€15m from €65m to €80m, Nico Paz now creep behind his Argentine compatriot as the second most valuable player in Serie A. It is the first time in history that a Como player holds either of the top two spots.
“Paz is the kind of player who escapes normality, who excites and lights up the game,” Transfermarkt Area Manager Italy, Jatin Dietl, said. "He has the gift of talent and, most importantly, he is not wasting it. At 21 years old, the Argentine midfielder stands out for his natural elegance and vision. Rejecting normality in favour of creativity, he is showing his full potential and has become a true technical reference point for Como in Serie A. Under Cesc Fabregas, he had the perfect environment to grow, and now he is ready for the next step.”
Unfortunately, it seems unlikely that Como will be able to keep the playmaker. “Of course, they would love to keep him, while Inter would be very eager to sign him,” Dietl said. “But I believe Real Madrid, who have a buyback clause in the region of €9-11m that can be triggered over the next three summers, know exactly what kind of jewel they have on their hands and will not let him go easily. Without a doubt, he is the most talented player in the entire league, more complete and more consistent even than the highly talented Kenan Yıldız (unchanged at €75m) from Juventus."
Serie A updates: Como on the rise – Ups and downs at Inter Milan
Another Como player with a significant upgrade is Martin Baturina. “Baturina is one of those players who immediately catches the eye,” Dietl said about the 23-year-old Croatian. “Elegant, creative and technically outstanding, the Croatian midfielder has the rare ability to slow the game down and accelerate it again with a single touch. His vision, close control and intelligence between the lines make him a profile that modern football increasingly values. Como managed to sign one of the biggest talents produced by Dinamo Zagreb in recent years.” Headed to the World Cup, Baturina saw his market value increase by €6m from €24m to €30m.
Also headed to the World Cup with Croatia is Inter Milan’s Petar Sučić. “Already in his first match for Inter, Sučić showed all of his qualities,” Dietl said. “He is a modern midfielder whose main strengths are tactical intelligence, passing accuracy, vision and his ability to make forward runs into space. He excels at ball management, favouring quick, vertical football while maintaining an excellent passing completion rate. At times, he still lacks concentration and focus over the course of an entire match, but he has everything needed to become a top-level midfielder.” Sušić is a player to watch. The 22-year-old midfielder saw his market value increase by 33% from €30m to €40m, and there is a chance he could further increase his evaluation at the upcoming World Cup in North America.
That’s not possible for Sučić’s teammate Alessandro Bastoni, whose market value once again dropped, this time from €70m to €65m. “Bastoni’s downgrade is mainly the result of a mix of advancing age and a slight loss of standing,” Dietl said. “Inter’s Champions League elimination against Bodø/Glimt, Italy missing out on the World Cup, partly due to a mistake by Bastoni, and the fact that, while he remains one of the best and most important players in the current Inter setup, he is no longer quite as irreplaceable as he was a year ago, have all contributed to this drop. He still belongs among the most valuable centre-backs in the world, but no longer quite in the top five.”
While Bastoni misses out on the World Cup because Italy once again failed to qualify, his teammate Yann Bisseck wasn’t nominated by Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann. It was a baffling decision; after all, Bisseck has been excellent for Inter, and his market value has increased by 25%, from €40m to €50m. “Over the last few months, he has developed into an extremely consistent and reliable player,” Dietl said. “Strong in duels and almost unbeatable in the air, he combines his physical qualities with excellent ball progression. He also has very good ball control and is comfortable using both feet, which allows him not only to build from the back but also to carry the ball forward offensively. With this profile, he seems almost perfect for the Premier League, and Bayern Munich are also reportedly already interested in him.”
Serie A market values: Leão and Pulisic drop – Malen impact continues
At league rivals AC Milan, two stars continue to drop: Rafael Leão and US men’s national team star Christian Pulisic. “At the beginning of the season, there was hope that Allegri’s positional switch, from winger to centre-forward, would finally be the definitive breakthrough in a career shaped by talent and flashes of brilliance, but also by the feeling that Rafael Leão never fully reached his potential,” Dietl said. “Unfortunately, the experiment did not work out, and at almost 27 years old, he can no longer really be considered a talent prospect. Milan are reportedly planning without him, and if an offer around his new market value arrives, they are unlikely to hesitate to sell him. A change of scenery could possibly be exactly what he needs to save his career.”
While Leão drops by €15m from €65m to €50m, Pulisic saw his market value drop by €10m from €50m to €40m. “Until the end of 2025, he was, alongside Lautaro, one of the players with the most goal contributions in Serie A over recent years,” Dietl said. “But in 2026, Pulisic seems to have completely disappeared. Since December, he has struggled to score; his performances have been consistently disappointing, and he has never been able to help Milan out of their very difficult second half of the season. Combined with his age and what is likely a difficult market for a profile like his, this has led to such a significant downgrade.”
Meanwhile, at Roma, Dutch forward Donyell Malen has impressed. “You have to go quite far back to remember a winter signing making such an immediate impact as Malen,” Dietl said. “A regular goalscorer in a Serie A currently lacking top strikers, he is relatively high up in the scoring charts. Malen could become one of the most sought-after profiles of the Italian summer transfer window. Milan and Juventus are looking for a striker who guarantees goals, and after several disappointing signings from abroad in recent years, a player like Malen, who has already proven himself in Italy in such a short time, could be the perfect fit.”
Serie A market value: Rowe and Højlund up – McTominay downgraded
Like Malen, Rasmus Højlund is another former Premier League striker who is thriving in Serie A. “Signed for a total of €50m, it was a huge risk taken by Napoli, after all, it made him the second most expensive player in the club’s history,” Dietl said about the Danish striker whose market value by 20% from €40m to €50m. “But today, hardly anyone in Naples would say the investment was not worth it. He excels at attacking space and thriving in transition, making him lethal on the counter. He also has the physical presence of a classic target man, protects the ball well with his back to goal and is dominant in the air. He has become the focal point of Conte’s Napoli, and no one in Naples misses Lukaku anymore.”
While it has been good news for Højlund, his Napoli teammate and Scottish national team midfielder Scott McTominay has been downgraded by €5m from €45m to €40m. “He is undoubtedly still one of the best midfielders in the league, even if the current season has not quite reached the level of his spectacular previous one. But at 29, soon to be 30, he unfortunately can’t avoid a downgrade anymore.”
Still, McTominay is a star. A player who could become a star is English forward Jonathan Rowe at Bologna. “At times he can still be inconsistent, but the talent is obvious,” Dietl said. “Bologna seem to have secured a profile with a huge potential market in the future, a player capable of creating chaos in transition, scoring goals and bringing energy every time he touches the ball. If he improves his decision-making and consistency, he has the tools to become a very high-level winger.” Rowe saw his market value increase by 115.4% from €20m to €28m.
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