In the last days of December 2023, the Transfermarkt website, a consultation platform specialized in the transfer market and value of players in the world of football, made its last update of the year, providing the new values with which each player started 2024.
As in the previous edition, the aspects to be taken into account by the administrators and operators of the platform when generating the market value of a player are his previous transfers, age, potential for the future, position he occupies on the field, current performance at club and team level, institutional situation of his club, physical condition, regularity in terms of injuries, interest from other clubs, career and professional experience, international prestige, salary, hierarchy within the club and his potential as an advertising brand.
Depending on the variation of these factors, players can increase or decrease their value from one year to the next. Today we will find out who are the Cuban footballers who start out being the best valued in 2024.
- Yosel Piedra
With a value of 225,000 euros, Villa Clara defender Yosel Piedra is in fifth place in the top. The San Carlos Sports Association player, in Costa Rican football, had no variations in his market value compared to 2023. However, it would not be surprising if for future updates the 29-year-old soccer player experiences a decrease in his valuation due to the serious injury suffered recently, which will keep him away from the fields for a long time, surgical intervention included.
- Luis Paradela and Marcel Hernández
In fourth position we have a tie between those who, without the slightest margin of discussion, are the most relevant Cuban football players in Central America today: Luis Paradela and Marcel Hernández. The first, a 27-year-old midfielder who plays for Deportivo Saprissa; the second, a 34-year-old forward who does it for Club Sport Cartaginés, both in Costa Rican football. Priced at 350,000 euros, neither of the two players experienced changes compared to their 2023 values.
- Christian Joel Sánchez and Maikel Chang
In the third position, we also have two exponents with the same market value. They is Christian Joel, a 24-year-old goalkeeper who defends the colors of Sporting de Gijón in the second division of Spanish football; and Maikel Chang, a 32-year-old midfielder who for several years has been playing for Real Salt Lake, a Major League Soccer team.
Transfermarkt attributes a value to both of them of 500,000 euros. In Christian’s case, the price did not change compared to the last calendar year; while, in the case of Chang, he suffered a small devaluation compared to the values he held in 2023, when the platform placed him in second place among Cuban players, with a value of 600,000 euros.
We must understand this devaluation as something normal when players turn the 30-year-old curve, since — as we mentioned — age is one of the variables taken into account by the platform when rating players.
- César Munder
The player in second place was the only one in the entire ranking who experienced a positive change concerning his 2023 values. This is César Munder, a footballer whose services were recently acquired by Cobresal, a Chilean club in which he was loaned from Universidad Católica.
After a great 2023 with the mining team, the 24-year-old winger born in Havana was updated with a value of 900,000 euros. A considerable jump if we take into account that last year his value was 550,000 euros.
- Onel Hernández
About to turn 31, Onel Hernández continues to be the Cuban best valued by Transfermarkt, a condition that he has maintained for years. Valued at 1 million euros, his value did not change in any way compared to 2023.
Although the continuous injuries and surgical interventions have kept him away from the 4 million euros with which he was valued in 2019, having remained in highly competitive circuits with clubs with a history in England (Premier League and Championship) has earned the Norwich City player to stay above seven figures. This has consistently placed him as the highest-valued Cuban in recent years.
