It was football’s biggest awards ceremony last night: the Ballon d’Or.
Unfortunately for Arsenal fans, only two players made it onto the final list of 30 names, and the winner, Ousmane Dembélé, was one of the main reasons Mikel Arteta’s side failed to qualify for the Champions League final last season.
However, even though the Emirates faithful might not be the Frenchman’s biggest fans for that reason, it’s hard to deny he doesn’t deserve the award, as his Paris Saint-Germain side won pretty much all there was to win last season.
With that said, despite being one of the very best players in the world, Dembélé is actually worth millions less than an Arsenal star.
Arsenal's representatives at the Ballon d'Or
So while four of the women’s team made it into the top ten for the Women’s Ballon d’Or, the men’s team weren’t quite as successful.
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In fact, no player from Arteta’s squad made it into the top ten, but two did make it into the top 30, including Viktor Gyokeres.
The Swede ranked 15th, and such a high finish is explained best by the fact that he also won the Gerd Müller Trophy for scoring more than anyone else in 24/25 for club and country.
The second Gunners representative on the list was Declan Rice, who finished in 27th place.
Despite the team underperforming somewhat last season, the former West Ham United star had another stellar campaign for the club.
On top of being a bulldog in the middle of the park, the Englishman was able to produce 19 goal involvements in 52 games.
Moreover, those free-kicks against Real Madrid should be reason enough for him to get on the list.
With all that said, there is another Arsenal star missing from the 2025 list, who’ll surely make it onto next year’s one, someone who is also worth millions more than Dembélé.
The Arsenal star worth millions more than Dembélé
While they weren’t well represented at the Ballon d’Or this year, Arsenal now have a squad filled to the brim with outrageous talent, and the pick of the bunch is undoubtedly Bukayo Saka.
Unsurprisingly, then, it is the Hale End icon who is worth more than this year’s winner, with the CIES Football Observatory valuing him at a whopping €115.1m, which rounds up to £101m.
The Paris Saint-Germain star, on the other hand, is valued at €60.9m, which translates to approximately £53m, or £48m less than the Gunners’ talismanic superstar.
Now, there may be a number of you who disagree with such valuations, but there are likely a few reasons why the Englishman is worth so much more than the Champions League winner, notably his age.
For example, he has only just turned 24, whereas the Frenchman is now 28, and according to research carried out by The Athletic, is coming out of his peak years.
Moreover, when we compare his efforts from the 20/21 season – when he was 24 – to Saka’s last year, it’s clear the England international is ahead of him in terms of development.
For example, the then-Barcelona player recorded just 16 goal involvements in 44 appearances, totalling 2,704 minutes, which translates to a goal involvement every 2.75 games, or every 169 minutes.
Appearances
37
44
Minutes
2619′
2704′
Goals
12
11
Assists
14
5
Goal Involvements per Match
0.70
0.36
Minutes per Goal Involvement
100.73′
169.00′
In contrast, the North Londoners’ “future legend,” as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, scored 12 goals and provided 14 assists in 37 appearances, totalling 2,619 minutes, last season.
In other words, he averaged a goal involvement every 1.42 games, or every 100.73 minutes, which is an incredible rate of return.
Ultimately, nobody would deny that Dembélé had a far better season than Saka last year.
However, the Arsenal star is four years younger and far ahead of the PSG ace at the same age, and therefore, it makes sense for him to be worth such an astronomical fee.