News Americas, LONDON, England, Fri. Jan. 8, 2021: Manchester United forward, Caribbean roots soccer star Marcus Rashford, is the most valuable player in the world soccer according to the CIES Football Observatory.
The CIES says the 23-year-old is morevaluable than Erling Braut Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, and Jadon Sancho.
The research group, which takes into account age, contract length, and form, values Rashford at $203 million. Rashford has been in sparkling form for United this season, scoring 14 times and assisting seven in 26 games to help Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side to joint top of the Premier League table.
The England international has also been making the headlines thanks to his campaign to fight child poverty in England. He has twice prompted Prime Minister Boris Johnson to overturn decisions not to fund free school meals for impoverished children across the country throughout the year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
His work also inspired businesses around the country to start their own campaign to provide free school meals during the holidays, with Rashford retweeting the locations of those who offered to help.
In October, he was given an MBE by the Queen in her Birthday Honours list, while in December, he was given an Expert Panel Special Award at BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards.
He is of Kittitian descent, with his grandmother being born on the island of Saint Kitts.