Lionel Messi, one of the most valuable soccer players on the planet. Photo by Xavier Bonilla/NurPhoto via Getty Images

A prominent research group, the CIES Football Observatory, has updated its list of the most valuable soccer players in Europe's best leagues.

There are now 37 athletes who are valued at $100 million or more.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are sliding down the list because of age, which means younger talent have leapfrogged them near the top.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi may be the most famous soccer players on the planet, but their transfer value is waning with age and they have been leapfrogged by the sport's brightest talents.

Identifying a player's transfer value is never easy, but a prominent research group in Switzerland - the CIES Football Observatory - has done just that by updating its list of 100 big-five league players with the highest valuations according to its own algorithm.

Only considering players from England's Premier League, Spain's La Liga, Italy's Serie A, Germany's Bundesliga, and France's Ligue 1, in order to calculate a player's value in the current transfer market, the Observatory has been monitoring soccer transactions since 2010, speaking to market actors (club executives operating in elite soccer), and studying factors like playing activity, the club the athlete plays for, the athlete's age, playing position, and economic level of the releasing club.

The findings are interesting, not least because there are now 37 players worth $100 million or more, but also because there are a number of new faces - and teenagers - who are capable of improving further and enhancing their worth in the transfer market.

Here are the 37 most valuable soccer players competing in Europe right now, ranked in ascending order: