Last summer, Nigerian striker Victor Osimhen was arguably the hottest commodity in world football. In 2023, he led Napoli to their first Scudetto title since the days of Diego Maradona with 26 goals in 32 Serie A games, and a further 15 goals the following year only bolstered his reputation. However, a bitter fallout with incoming manager Antonio Conte made it clear that the Super Eagle would have to leave the Ciucciarelli.
Osimhen made clear his intention to leave the club, and Conte didn’t take too kindly to that. The manager was only too happy to part ways, stating that he doesn’t wish to have a player in his squad who doesn’t want to be there. He duly signed Romelu Lukaku to replace Osimhen, but no top club was willing to fork out the €100m required to meet Napoli’s asking price.
His team may have received congratulations from the likes of Bodog on his success, but this left him in a tricky situation. https://x.com/bodogca/status/1654224883658764289?s=46&t=Jxc74bqcdlQ9Bjed4TR1Jw
As such, the Nigerian star was duly shipped off to Galatasaray on a season-long loan, but playing week in and week out against weaker opposition in the Turkish Super Lig has seen his market value fall dramatically. According to the highly reputable Transfermarkt, last June, Osimhen was valued at €120m, but now that value is just €70m. The drop-off is huge.
Of course, he’s not alone. Which players’ values have dropped more than Osimhens? Let’s find out.
Leroy Sane
Bayern Munich winger Leroy Sane was once considered the next big thing. When he broke through the ranks at boyhood club FC Schalke as a teenager, he took the world by storm. 13 goals in 57 games saw him snapped up by Pep Guardiola and he made the move to Manchester City, with the Blues paying some €52m to secure his services.
While Sane did enjoy a trophy-laden four years at the Etihad Stadium, he never hit the heights truly expected of him. 39 goals and 43 assists in 135 games is by no means something to be scoffed at, but he was regularly overshadowed by the likes of Sergio Aguero, Kevin De Bruyne, and Raheem Sterling. By the end of his stint with the club, injuries and poor form spelled the beginning of the end, and Bayern Munich was only too happy to bring the winger back to his homeland.
They parted with €49m to take Sane to Bavaria in 2021, and he has impressed throughout the majority of his four years at the Allianz Arena. However, this season, he has struggled to nail down a place in the team, often being overshadowed by summer signing Michael Olise from Premier League outfit Crystal Palace.
The Frenchman has been in scintillating form this term, forming a lethal attack alongside England captain Harry Kane, forcing the betting sites to sit up and take notice. After their exploits in the Bundesliga, the latest odds from top online betting sites currently price Bayern as an overwhelming 1/50 favorite to regain the Meisterschale this term, as well as a 7/1 contender to win the Champions League. But while Olise’s stellar form has been great news for Bayern, it has been damning for their former prized asset Sane.
Last July, he was valued at €70m. Fast forward to May 2025, and that value has almost halved, and he is currently worth just €38m. At the age of 29, his contract expires this June, and with no extension talks planned, Bayern looks set to willingly let Sane leave on a free transfer in just a matter of months. How the mighty have fallen.
Douglas Luiz
Brazilian defensive midfielder Douglas Luiz was drawing plenty of plaudits in the Premier League with Aston Villa around 18 months ago. He was proving to be a pivotal part of a Villains midfield that had been reborn under Unai Emery and was marching toward a return to the UEFA Champions League for the first time in over 40 years. However, the addition of Boubacar Kamara on a free transfer from Marseille as well as the growth of young midfielder Jacob Ramsey suddenly made the former Shakhtar Donetsk man expendable, and the race for his signature was one of European football’s biggest talking points.
Juventus ultimately won that race last summer, happily paying €50m to seal the deal. That price was considered somewhat of a bargain, with the aforementioned Transfermarkt valuing the Selecao star at closer to €70m. But it seems that it was Villa who was correct with their estimations, and they were right to sell their former midfielder even for a perceived cut price.
After an injury-hit year in Turin, Luiz’s value now also stands at €38m, meaning that he has lost 45.7% of his value in barely nine months. Unlike Sane though, he is still safely under contract with his current club, and he will continue to pick up a hefty pay packet even if he never regains the form that led him to becoming one of the most coveted defensive midfielders on the planet.
