Cristiano Ronaldo not included in study of Europe's 'most valuable XI'

Cristiano Ronaldo was not included in study of Europe's 'most valuable XI'

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo is favourite for this year's Ballon d'Or crown, but according to a study, doesn't make the most valuable team in Europe.

Ronaldo, valued at £110m by the CIES Football Observatory, is pipped by Lionel Messi (£161m), Antoine Griezmann (£115m) and Neymar (£213m) in the front line of a most valuable XI, collated by Spanish newspaper AS.

Barcelona star Neymar is considered the most valuable player in Europe, while Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho (£63m) makes up the front four in the No 10 position.

Barcelona's Neymar and Lionel Messi make up the front line

Swiss-based football research group CIES use a sophisticated algorithm to gather the transfer values of players in the 'big five' European leagues (Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Ligue 1, Bundesliga), updated every transfer window.

The study takes into account age, contract, international status, experience and performance of the player, as well as the achievements, results and competition level of teams.

Raphael Varane (£42m) and Aymeric Laporte (£41m) join the La Liga stars in the XI, while Manchester United have two players included - David De Gea (£49m) and Paul Pogba (£106m)

Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann has had a fine 2016

One player is included from Serie A - Juventus' Leonardo Bonucci (£42m) - while Ligue 1 has two - PSG duo Marquinhos (£40m) and Marco Veratti (£62m).

A straight ranking of the players, without being put into a formation, sees seven Premier League stars making the top 20.

Pogba, Sergio Aguero (£75m), Coutinho, Eden Hazard (£64m), Kevin De Bruyne (£60m), Alexis Sanchez (£59m) and Harry Kane (£53m) mix it with the big guns in the top 20, which also includes seven La Liga players, two from Serie A, three from the Bundesliga and one from Ligue 1.

Paul Pogba makes the XI alongside team-mate David De Gea

Ronaldo is overwhelming favourite to take the Ballon d'Or crown, announced on Monday evening.

The Premier League has eight players on the 30-man shortlist, including Manchester United new boys Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as well as Manchester City duo Aguero and De Bruyne.

There are also inclusions for Leicester's title winners Jamie Vardy, the only English nominee, and Riyad Mahrez, along with France team-mates and Premier League rivals Dimitri Payet of West Ham and Hugo Lloris of Tottenham.