12 hours ago
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Born somewhere, shining elsewhere
©IMAGO
The World Cup is now upon us, and by heading to the Transfermarkt home page for the competition, users can easily scroll through the list of the most valuable players at the competition. Naturally, each star player will be looking to shine for their national team and help guide them towards success. However, as has often been the case, not all international players play for the country of their birth. Whether through the nationality of their parents or grandparents, gaining citizenship after moving to another country at a young age or other specific circumstances, many of the most valuable players in the world actually play for different countries than the one written down on their birth certificate. So, who are the most valuable players that technically don’t play for their country of birth?
In what may come as a surprise to many, one of the most valuable players in the world tops this specific list. Norwegian star Erling Haaland may be a proud member of the Scandinavian national team, but he was actually born in Leeds when his father played in English football. He tops the list with a market value of €200 million. In second place is another top MVP in Michael Olise. Although the Bayern Munich winger has represented France for all of his career, he was actually born and raised in England, and sits comfortably in second place in the list with a market value of €150m. Below the French winger are three players on €80m. Argentinian midfielder Nico Paz will play alongside Lionel Messi & Co., but was born in Spain. So too was Achraf Hakimi, who will represent Morocco at this year’s World Cup as one of their most important players. And, making up the top five is the third English-born talent in Antoine Semenyo, who was born in London but opted to apply for Ghana.
Another wide forward who opted to play for a different country from the one of his birth is Juventus star Kenan Yıldız, who will be wearing the top of Turkiye at this year’s World Cup despite being born in Regensburg, Germany. The 21-year-old star sits sixth on the list just above Marc Guéhi, who was born in the Ivory Coast but was raised in England and opted to play for the latter at international level. Just below the England star is Everton winger Iliman Ndiaye, who is set to surpass 40 caps for Senegal at the World Cup despite being born in France. Below Ndiaye are three players with market values of €50m who round up the list: Morocco midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi (born in France), French striker Marcus Thuram (born in Italy) and Matheus Nunes, who was born in Brazil but will represent Portugal at the tournament.
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