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Gylfi Sigurdsson is worth less than half the £40m Swansea City rate him at – and Leon Britton is the least valuable member of the club’s entire senior squad.

Or at least that’s according to transfer boffins who claim that Tottenham striker Vincent Janssen and Liverpool defender Nathaniel Clyne would cost twice the fee Swansea could expect for star man Sigurdsson in the current market.

Analysts at the Switzerland-based International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) – which FIFA helped set-up – have developed a Football Observatory which claim to have come up with a “powerful approach” that estimates “on a scientific basis” the transfer values of players across Europe’s main five leagues – including the Premier League.

It says it has produced an algorithm that has been based from analysis of close to 2,000 previous transfers over the past seven years, with such factors as player and club performances, international status, experience, book value, contract terms, age and position helping to provide an accurate and realistic value.

But their model won’t go down well with Swans fans after it slapped several surprising values on their star men, including club captain Britton; the long-serving skipper – whose influential return to the side at the end of last season had a huge say in Swansea’s Premier League survival – is valued at just £700,000.

Yet it is the fee the CIES claim Swansea could realistically expect for Sigurdsson that will really get heads scratching, with the algorithm estimating the 27-year-old’s worth at just €21.1m, or £18.6m – at least £7m less than the interest from Everton knocked back a year ago.

The Goodison Park club have retained their admiration in Sigurdsson and are said to be still ready to try and tempt Swansea with a big-money offer this summer.

(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)

Swansea, regardless of Swiss estimates, have made it known that not even £40m would necessarily see them persuaded to cash-in on the Euro 2016 ace – at odds with the claims by this supposed scientific approach that admits ignores all subjective influences.

A blog on the Football Observatory site states a claim that, since 2013, their estimates across Europe’s ‘big five’ leagues – Serie A, the Bundesliga, Ligue 1, La Liga and the Premier League – have been close to 80% accurate.

Yet the fact that Sigurdsson, who hit nine goals and assisted 13 more last term – the third highest in the English top-flight – is not considered in the top 100 players from those divisions will suggest they may have got it wrong.

And that’s before mentioning the fact that Liverpool right-back Clyne and Spurs striker Janssen – who managed just two league goals for last year’s runners up – are considered twice as valuable.

Neymar tops a recently published CIES list of the top 110 players all deemed as worth more than €40m, Barcelona’s Brazil superstar seen as a €210.7m asset at the Camp Nou. Second, and the Premier League’s most valuable player, is Dele Alli (€155.1m) while Tottenham teammate Harry Kane is next at €153.6m, ahead of Lionel Messi at €151.7m.

(Image: Getty Images)

While there are many familiar names in the list – and an explainer that the cash-rich Premier League players have increased value compared to rival leagues – there are some surprises, especially when placed against Sigurdsson’s supposed worth. John Stones, for example, is said to be worth €71.2m (37th in the rankings), placing him above Phillipe Coutinho despite a difficult first season at Manchester City. Wales hero Gareth Bale is at 43 at €66.7m – some €34m down on the 2013 world record fee paid by Real Madrid four years ago. Liverpiool’s Sadio Mane is just €2m cheaper.

Bale’s fellow Euro 2016 ace Aaron Ramsey is nowhere on the list – rated at €19.8m or £17.39m, with international teammate Joe Allen claimed as being worth more at €22.9m (£20.11m). For comparison, Ramsey’s Arsenal midfield colleague Granit Xhaka is supposedly worth €50.7m – almost double what it cost to sign him a year ago for a season in which he failed to make an impact and was sent off twice. Nathan Redmond, though, is on the list, with the Southampton man tipped to cost €60.2m in the transfer market.

Still, all that aside, Sigurdsson is unsurprisingly Swansea’s most expensive asset according to the estimated values, followed by centre-back Alfie Mawson who is given a predicted transfer cost of £13.5m – almost three times the figure it cost to sign him from Barnsley less than 12 months ago.

Swansea are also deemed to have made ‘profits’ on the fees shelled out for recent signings. Dutch winger Luciano Narsingh was bought from PSV in January for £4m but is now valued at £8.6m by CIES, making him the third highest in the squad. He is followed by Leroy Fer, a £4m capture a year ago but now seen as worth £8.5m, while Tom Caroll is valued at £6.9m.

Another surprise, though, is the low value of Martin Olsson who, having impressed hugely after his £4m move from Norwich, is seen as being worth just £1.8m – one of the lowest in the squad. With non-playing members of Paul Clement’s side deemed as more valuable than those who played a significant role in superb second-half of the season form, it does ask questions of the accuracy.

Despite recent record fees for defenders and goalkeepers in the market, they are all valued lower in the system; Lukasz Fabianski is only valued at £4.1m in the estimates while Stephen Kingsley is rated as the most valuable full-back.

In terms of players who could potentially leave the Liberty this summer, the scientific approach suggests Swansea could expect £4.4m for Bafe Gomis, but it is here where the model’s flaws are exposed; Swansea will receive around £2-3m for the Frenchman in his proposed move to Galatasaray, something deemed acceptable because of the savings on his wages.

Likewise, it would be unrealistic for Swansea to expect to receive £10.1m for Borja Baston despite his record arrival for £5m more than that a year ago.

SWANSEA’S MOST VALUABLE ASSETS

According to values by CIES Football Observatory

1 - Gylfi Sigurdsson £18.6m

2 - Alfie Mawson £13.5m

3 - Borja Baston £10.1m

4 - Luciano Narsingh - £8.6m

5 - Leory Fer £8.5m

6 - Federico Fernandez £7.8m

7 - Tom Carroll £6.9m

8 - Jordan Ayew - £5.9m

9 - Jack Cork - £5.2m

10 - Fernando Llorente £4.8m

11 - Bafe Gomis £4.4m

12 - Mike van der Hoorn £3.8m

13 - Ki Sung-Yueng £3.7m

14 - Lukasz Fabianski £3.6m

15 - Jordi Amat £3m

16 - Stephen Kingsley £3m

17 - Jefferson Montero £2.6m

18 - Jay Fulton £2.3m

19 - Kristoffer Nordfeldt £2.2m

20 - Oliver McBurnie £2.2m

21 - Kyle Naughton £2.2m

22 - Wayne Routledge £1.9m

23 - Nathan Dyer £1.8m

24 - Martin Olsson £1.8m

25 - Angel Rangel £0.8m

26 - Leon Britton £0.7m

SELECTED WALES PLAYERS

1 - Gareth Bale £58.6m

2 - Ben Davies £22.3m

3 - Joe Allen £20.1m

4 - Aaron Ramsey £17.4m

5 - Ashley Williams £10.5m

6 - Sam Vokes £10.1m

7 - Wayne Hennessey £3.7m

8 - Ben Woodburn £3.4m

9 - Harry Wilson £1.8m

10 - James Collins £1.2m

11 - Hal Robson-Kanu £1.6m