Lionel Messi, Eden Hazard and Raheem Sterling among world's most valuable players in study

Liverpool's Raheem Sterling has been valued at £60m by a new transfer study

Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling is the sixth most valuable player in Europe at £60m, while Chelsea’s Eden Hazard is worth more than Cristiano Ronaldo, according to a new transfer study.

The study has been carried out by a team of statisticians at the Football Observatory, a research group in the International Centre for Sports Studies which was founded in 1995 as a joint-venture between FIFA and the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. The Football Observatory itself was established in 2005 and has undertaken research for both FIFA and UEFA.

Their newly-published report makes four-time World Player of the Year Lionel Messi by far the most expensive player with a value of £205m following another stellar season with Barcelona.

Their findings are based on in-depth analysis which takes into account age, position, contract situation, international status, experience and on-pitch performance, and Chelsea star Hazard is second in the list with a value of £109m having shone for the Blues and signed a lucrative new contract in February.

Barcelona's Lionel Messi is rated as the world's most valuable player at £205m, £96m more than second-placed Eden Hazard

Real Madrid’s Ronaldo has fallen to third with a value of £92m since the Football Observatory’s last study in January 2015, while Barcelona’s Neymar is deemed to be worth £72m, ahead of Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero (£63m) and the £60m Sterling.

The 20-year-old, who has been strongly linked with a move away from Anfield this summer, is the most valuable English player in the study and the youngest player in the top 30.

Diego Costa has been linked with a move away from Chelsea

The rest of the top 10 is made up of Paul Pogba, the in-demand Juventus midfielder whose value is calculated at £57m, Chelsea striker Diego Costa (£56m), Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez (£55m) and James Rodriguez (£50m), who joined Real Madrid in a big money deal from Monaco last summer.

Chelsea’s Cesc Fabregas is judged to be the next most expensive Premier League player at £47m, which puts him 13th in the list, two places ahead of Tottenham’s Harry Kane.

Tottenham's Harry Kane is valued at £43m, according to the study, making him the 15th most expensive player in the world

The Spurs youth product is valued at £43m after a stunning breakthrough campaign in which he scored 32 goals for club and country, making him more expensive than his former team-mate Gareth Bale, whose value has fallen to £41m just two years after his world record £85m move to Real Madrid.

Liverpool’s Philippe Coutinho is 17th at £40.6m, closely followed by Chelsea duo Thibaut Courtois and Oscar, who the study values at £40.5m and £38.2m respectively.

Philippe Coutinho shone for Liverpool in 2014/15

Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen (£32.4), Everton’s Romelu Lukaku (£32m), Chelsea’s Willian (£31.1m) and City’s David Silva (£30.6m) are the only other Premier League players in the top 30, while Manchester United’s £59.7m summer signing Angel Di Maria is 31st and now valued at just £29.7m after a disappointing season at Old Trafford.

Wayne Rooney is rated as United's next most valuable player, with an estimated worth of £28.9m putting him 33rd in the list.

As for other transfer targets for Premier League clubs outside the top 30, Manchester City-linked midfielder Kevin De Bruyne is 32nd in the list and valued at £29.6m after impressing for Wolfsburg.

Wolfsburg's Kevin De Bruyne is reportedly wanted by Manchester City

Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette has also been linked with a move to England and is valued at £28.6m, while Napoli's Gonzalo Higuain is estimated to be worth £27.4m. Reported Liverpool target Mateo Kovacic, who plays for Inter Milan, is valued at £23.7m.

United target Mats Hummels is also in the top 100 with a value of £21m, while Barcelona forward Pedro is given a value of £18.2m. Surprisingly, United goalkeeper David De Gea, who has been strongly linked with a move to Madrid, is only rated at £17.9m, putting him 95th in the list.

The Football Observatory’s top 50 most expensive players

1. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) £205m

2. Eden Hazard (Chelsea) £109m

3. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid) £92m

Third-placed Cristiano Ronaldo has been overtaken by Eden Hazard

4. Neymar (Barcelona) £72m

5. Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) £63m

6. Raheem Sterling (Liverpool) £60m

7. Paul Pogba (Juventus) £57m

8. Diego Costa (Chelsea) £56m

9. Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) £55m

Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez impressed in his first season at the Emirates

10. James Rodriguez (Real Madrid) £50m

11. Luis Suarez (Barcelona) £48.2m

12. Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid) £47.5

13. Cesc Fabregas (Chelsea) £47m

14. Isco Alcoron (Real Madrid) £46m

15. Harry Kane (Tottenham) £43m

16. Gareth Bale (Real Madrid) £41m

Gareth Bale endured a difficult season with Real Madrid

17. Philippe Coutinho (Liverpool) £40.6m

18. Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea) £40.5m

19. Oscar (Chelsea) £38.2m

20. Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) £36m

21. Mario Gotze (Bayern Munich) £34.5

22. Koke Resurreccion (Atletico Madrid) £33.1m

23. Christian Eriksen (Tottenham) £32.4m

24. Romelu Lukaku (Everton) £32m

Romelu Lukaku scored 20 goals for Everton in all competitions last season

25. Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) £31.9m

26. Willian (Chelsea) £31.1m

27. Alvaro Morata (Juventus) £30.9m

28. Sergio Busquets (Barcelona) £30.7m

29. David Silva (Manchester City) £30.6m

30. Edinson Cavani (Paris St Germain) £30.4m

31. Angel Di Maria (Manchester United) £29.7m

Manchester United's Angel Di Maria

32. Kevin De Bruyne (Wolfsburg) £29.6m

33. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) £28.9m

34. Marco Verratti (Paris St Germain) £28.7m

35. Nemanja Matic (Chelsea) £28.6m

36. Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) £28.5m

37. Alexandre Lacazette (Lyon) £28.6m

38. Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich) £28.3m

39. Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich) £27.5m

Manuel Neuer of Bayern Munich is ranked 39th

40. Mesut Ozil (Arsenal) £27.4m

41. Gonzalo Higuain (Napoli) £27.4m

42. Ross Barkley (Everton) £27m

43. Yaya Toure (Manchester City) £26.7m

44. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal) £26.6m

45. Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich) £26m

46. Santi Cazorla (Arsenal) £25.8m

Santi Cazorla is also in the top 50

47. Danny Welbeck (Arsenal) £25.7m

48. Jordan Henderson (Liverpool) £25.6m

49. Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal) £25.5m

50. Miralem Pjanic (Roma) £25.4m