Lionel Messi and Harry Kane transfer revelation... could this really be true?
GETTY Harry Kane and Lionel Messi have both scored 35 goals this season
The CIES Football Observatory has calculated that Kane, a product of the Tottenham academy, would currently be worth more in the transfer market than Messi at Barcelona. The statisticians have compiled a list of the 50 players in Europe's 'top five' leagues - England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France - who would bring in the most profit to their current clubs based upon the highest gap between their current transfer valuation and the fee their clubs originally paid for them. Homegrown Kane, 24, is worth an estimated £173m (€198.2m) while Messi, who came through the ranks of Barcelona's famous La Masia academy would land the club £172m (€196.8m) should they decide to cash in on him. The Argentina superstar will be 31 in June, which is why his value is starting to decrease according to the Football Observatory algorithm.
GETTY Harry Kane's injury against Bournemouth means Messi will likely score more goals than him this year
Kane pipped Messi to finish as Europe's top scorer in 2017 and although the Englishman didn't receive a trophy for his achievement, it proved that we might be witnessing a changing of the guard. The striker finished the year with 56 goals, averaging 1.08 per game. This was two more than Messi, but was also enough to edge some of the world's best forwards including Robert Lewandowski, Cristiano Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani. Kane also gunned down Alan Shearer's 22-year record for most top flight goals in a calendar year after firing 39 throughout 2017.
How Real Madrid could look with Harry Kane Wed, December 27, 2017 How could the Real Madrid starting XI look if they sign Harry Kane? Play slideshow Getty Images 1 of 12 How could Real Madrid line up if they signed Harry Kane?
The Spurs frontman is currently sidelined after damaging lateral ligaments in his right ankle in the 4-1 win at AFC Bournemouth, which has seen him fall behind in his bid to land a third successive Premier League Golden Boot following Mohamed Salah's four-goal haul against Watford. Kane has a better minutes-per-goal average than Messi in this season's Champions League. He's struck seven times in the competition at a rate of 85 minutes per goal while the Argentine has six goals, one every 101 minutes. Still, Messi tops the La Liga goalscoring charts with 25 and scored in the 2-0 win against Athletic Bilbao this weekend which put Ernesto Valverde's men 11 points clear at the top.
GETTY Lionel Messi has inspired Barcelona to 29 games unbeaten in the league this season