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Manchester City have "the most valuable squad in world football," according to the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES).

The CIES Football Observatory (h/t MailOnline's Amitai Winehouse) reported its findings, with City one of four clubs with a total transfer value of more than €1 billion, while Tottenham Hotspur are something of a surprise second:

Kevin De Bruyne is deemed the Sky Blues' most valuable player at €144.5 million (£128 million), while three other City stars—Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane and Gabriel Jesus—also exceed €100 million.

It's not too surprising to find City top the list after another summer of high spending, with around £220 million splashed out on new players, including Ederson, Benjamin Mendy, Kyle Walker and Bernardo Silva.

Silva has joined City's fearsome collection of attacking talent and struggled for game time amid some outstanding performances from his team-mates, whose values have no doubt increased since the summer due to their form:

The Citizens are already showing their clear superiority over their rivals in the Premier League, per Rafael Hernandez:

Spurs' position so high on the list may be somewhat unexpected given they're above the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, along with all of their domestic rivals bar City.

However, Mauricio Pochettino's squad is largely filled with young talent, and youth appears to increase value given 32-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo—Real's most valuable player—is worth less than each of his counterparts at the top 14 clubs in the rankings save only for Alexandre Lacazette at 12th-placed Arsenal.

Harry Kane tops the pile at Spurs with a value of €185.6 million (£164 million), while Dele Alli, three years his junior at 21, is a close second €181.7 million (£160.7 million).



Following his €222 million move to PSG in the summer, Neymar is the world's most valuable player, but he accounts for around a quarter of Les Parisiens' total squad value on his own and almost half along with Kylian Mbappe (€164.8 million).

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While there's a lot more to success than having a valuable squad, it will be intriguing to see how the likes of City, Spurs and PSG fare this year in the Champions League come the knockout stage.

As for two-time defending champions Real, they've paid the price for reducing their depth in the summer by allowing the likes of Alvaro Morata, James Rodriguez and Pepe to leave, both on the pitch—they're eight points behind Barcelona already in La Liga—and in value, as they're ranked sixth on the list.