Determinants of Market Value of Football Players

Nogomet – poznat kao predivna igra, s pravom ima status najmasovnijeg sporta kojeg svakodnevno prate milijuni ljudi diljem svijeta. Rad kreće od pretpostavke kako je nogomet industrija, čiji su proizvodi nogometaši kojima se trguje na određenom tržištu. Kako bi se olakšao odabir prilikom transfera nogometaša često se primjenjuje statistika koja objektivno prikazuje karakterisitke igrača. Fokus istraživanja je na trenutno najvrijednijim igračima iz najjačih europskih liga tzv. Lige petice. Igrači su analizirani s obzirom koju poziciju igraju, a radom su obuhvaćeni: napadači, krilni igrači, igrači veznog reda, bekovi i stoperi. U radu se modelom višestruke linearne regresije analiziraju varijable koje utječu na tržišnu vrijednost igrača. Varijable su podijeljene u tri skupine: varijable vezane za individualne karakteristike, produktivnost i timske karakteristike. Cilj rada je dokazati kao određene varijable utječu na tržišnu vrijednost igrača. Kod individualnih karakteristika dokazano je kako dob negativno utječe na tržišnu vrijednost gotovo svih igrača. Odabir varijabli vezanih za produktivnost ovisio je o poziciji igrača. U radu je dokazano kako UEFA klupski koeficijent ne utječe na tržišnu vrijednost nogometaša. S druge strane, tržišna vrijednost momčadi pozitivno utječe na tržišnu vrijednost napadača i bekova. Nad igračima veznog reda provodila se alternativna empirijska analiza gdje su analizirane samo individualne i timske karakteristike.Football, known as the beautiful game, rightfully has the status of the most popular sport with millions of people around the world following it on a daily basis. The thesis starts from the assumption that football is an industry whose products are the football players that are being traded on certain markets. Statistics which objectively show a player’s characteristics are often used to facilitate selection during transfers. The focus of the research is on the current most valuable players in the strongest European leagues, known as the League of Five. Players are analysed with regard to the position they play with the following covered by the thesis: forwards, wingers, midfielders and defenders. Variables that affect the market value of players were analysed in the thesis using the multiple linear regression model and are divided into three categories: variables in relation to individual characteristics, productivity and team characteristics. The aim of the thesis is to show that certain variables affect the market value of players. As far as individual characteristics are concerned, it has been established that age negatively impacts the market value of almost all players. The choice of variables in relation to productivity depended on the position of the player. The thesis proves that UEFA club coefficients do not affect the market value of football players. On the other hand, the market value of a team positively affects the market value of forwards and defenders. An alternative empirical study of midfield players was done which analysed only individual and team characteristics