Top 20 ranked
France dominate – The all-time most valuable players to swap national teams
©TM/IMAGO
In football, much like real life, nationality is a fluid construct. People may be born somewhere and have a passport that states that they’re a citizen of a certain country, but their experiences or heritage could point to an entirely different country as their chosen nationality. Football allows players a relative amount of freedom to choose their nationality before it is locked in for good after their first senior cap. As such, hundreds if not thousands of players have played for one national team at youth level only to then don the top of another national team at senior level. Today we take a look at the most notable ones, ranked by their market value upon their debut for their second national team.
Starting from the bottom of the list, four players shared a market value of €20 million at the time of their second-nation debut: Carney Chukwuemeka (England to Austria), Ilaix Moriba (Spain to Georgia), Jonathan Bamba (France to Ivory Coast), and Demarai Gray (England to Jamaica), alongside Emerson’s switch from Brazil to Italy at the same figure. Rayan Aït-Nouri sits slightly higher at €22m for his move from France to Algeria, while four players are tied at €25m: Bryan Mbeumo (France to Cameroon), Iñaki Williams (Spain to Ghana), Abdou Diallo (France to Senegal), and Abdoulaye Doucouré (France to Mali).
Moving further up the table, Evan Ndicka’s switch from France to Ivory Coast was valued at €28m. Three players share a €30m valuation: Diego Costa (Brazil to Spain), Sébastien Haller (France to Ivory Coast), and Geoffrey Kondogbia (France to Central African Republic). Above that, five players are tied at €35m: Declan Rice (Ireland to England), Amine Gouiri (France to Algeria), Brahim Díaz (Spain to Morocco), Ange-Yoan Bonny (France to Ivory Coast), and Aymeric Laporte (France to Spain). At the very top of the list, and the most valuable player to switch national teams, is Ayyoub Bouaddi, whose move from France to Morocco was valued at €50m upon his debut for his second nation.
Stats
S. Haller
Centre-Forward
Ivory Coast
34
11
3
As we can see quite clearly in the table, France completely dominates when it comes to high-profile players opting for a second nation at senior level. Among the 20 most valuable players to make a switch, no less than 12 could have technically gone on to play for “Les Bleus” at the Euros or World Cup. In fact, of the top 100 most valuable players to swap national teams in Transfermarkt’s database, a remarkable 57 first played for France at youth level. England claims second spot with 24 players, followed by Spain with 15 players.
To no great surprise, many of these players have also gone on to guide their adopted nations to remarkable success. For example, Laporte played a key role in Spain winning Euro 2024, while Haller and Ndicka were part ot he Ivory Coast national team that won the African Cup of Nations in 2023. Most recently, Díaz’s swap from Spain to Morocco has proved to be something of a masterstroke from the attacking player, following his nation’s success at the 2025 African Cup of Nations. Not only did Díaz help Morocco to the title but he also finished the tournament as top goalscorer.
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