Mueller biggest market winner, Felipe Melo top loser (Feature)

By Ralf Jarkowski Jul 5, 2010, 15:16 GMT

Hamburg - South Africa 2010 has not yet crowned a world champion. But the international players' market has already picked a winner - German midfielder Thomas Mueller - and a loser - Felipe Melo of Brazil.

Mueller 'can certainly triple his market value. At the very least. I assume that will happen,' Pius Minder of the Swiss player agency Koegl & Partner, which represents the player, told German Press Agency dpa on Monday.

Mueller has become one of the brightest new stars to emerge at the World Cup.

The market value for the 20-year-old Bayern rising star was estimated ahead of the World Cup at 10 million euros (12.5 million dollars) by the respected football website www.transfermarkt.de - which doesn't yet rank him in the top 150 players in the world.

'No one at Bayern would even pick up the telephone receiver for that amount now,' said Minder.

Transfermarkt.de plans to update its estimated players' values about a week after the World Cup ends. But the Swiss daily Blick reported Monday that Mueller's current market value is already about 37 million euros.

However, it remains to be seen what happens to Mueller, who will miss Germany's semi-final match with Spain due to a yellow card suspension.

'The free market is not even dealing with Thomas Mueller right now since he has a contract with Bayern until 2013. But I assume that Germany will become world champions. And Mueller has been unbelievable good in every game until now. So all options are open,' said Minder.

The World Cup can be especially beneficial for youngsters who shine at football's biggest sporting event.

'If a young player transfers after the World Cup, he will earn a lot more money than he would before it. He can double his salary,' player agent Roger Wittmann told dpa.

But a poor World Cup showing can also be extremely detrimental.

Just ask Brazil's Felipe Melo, who picked the biggest stage for possibly his worst game for the Selecao.

In his team's 2-1 loss to the Netherlands in the quarter-finals, the Juventus midfielder blocked the path of keeper Julio Cesar on the Netherlands' first goal - originally getting credited with an own goal. Then he was sent off in the 73rd minute for trampling on Arjen Robben.

Juventus paid 25 million euros for Melo last summer. They have since regretted the decision but failed to sell off the 27-year-old before the World Cup.

Interest in Melo is now at an all-time low - despite transfermarkt.de's value of 17 million euros before South Africa 2010.

The Italian-based transfer market website Calciomercato.com even titled a story about Melo with: 'Who's gonna want him now?'

None of the top four players in transfermarkt.de's rankings - Lionel Messi (80 million), Cristiano Ronaldo (75 million), Xavi (65 million) and Andres Iniesta (60 million) - should see their values change much following the World Cup.

Spain forward Fernando Torres, however, is currently estimated to be worth 50 million - the eighth-most expensive player - and will likely witness a drop in value after a lacklustre performance in South Africa. His Spanish team-mate David Villa, by contrast, may well see a rise in his 45 million value on the back of a successful World Cup campaign.

Experts, however, say the biggest winner will likely be Mueller - especially if Germany end up winning the World Cup.