Barcelona's most valuable player is the one on the worst form
The latest study from 'CIES Football Observatory' has concluded that Luis Suarez is Barcelona's most valuable player in terms of market value. Certainly a surprising revelation.
In their latest ranking of the most valuable squads in the world, Barcelona find themselves in third place, while the Uruguayan striker is their most valuable player at €134m. More than, say, Lionel Messi.
Factors like age, appeal for other clubs or recent performances are taken into count when calculating the value of a player. It's certainly surprising that Messi is valued at just €117.3m, almost €20m less than his striker partner Suarez.
Luis Suarez has been one of the surprises of the season so far with his disappointing form. The Uruguayan striker is experiencing one of his worst campaigns, and has not scored in his last five matches.
Although Suarez continues to receive plenty of public support from those within the club, he is far from his best physical and goalscoring level. He has had a niggling problem with his knee since the start of the campaign.
On top of this, Suarez has not yet found his best form in Ernesto Valverde's system, which is not just down to the uncharacteristic errors for a player of his standing.
The 'CIES Football Observatory' is a Swiss research group founded in 2005 and in recent years they have published numerous studies on transfer values and similar subjects.
Their most recent study names Suarez as the most valuable player at the Camp Nou, but reality would suggest something different at the moment...