128 updates 

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With nine match days remaining before the end of the season, Transfermarkt has updated the market values of 128 players competing in the 2. Bundesliga, Germany’s second division. The biggest winner of the update is Louey Ben Farhat, who has become the most valuable player in the history of Karlsruher SC. The same applies to VfL Bochum’s loan player Francis Onyeka. Despite recent good form, Hannover 96 have seen the biggest declines in value.

Ben Farhat has become an integral part of Karlsruhe’s starting line-up and did not let a metatarsal fracture at the end of August, which sidelined him for 14 games, throw him off course. In the last three games alone, the 19-year-old scored four goals and provided one assist, and has long since attracted the interest of big clubs. “Ben Farhat has made an impressive comeback after his long injury break and is showing his great talent,” Transfermarkt market value admin Marcel Fritze said. “With his dribbling skills, speed, and finishing quality, he is one of the hottest prospects in the second division. If he continues like this, he will be a sought-after transfer target in the summer. Ben Farhat saw his market value increase by €4.5m to € 7.5m. This puts him in fourth place in the league and makes him the most valuable player in KSC club history, breaking a record set by Igor Matanovic and Rafael Pinto Pedrosa (€5m).

The only players in the 2. Bundesliga who are more valuable than Ben Farhat are the currently injured Hertha Berlin wonderkid Kennet Eichhorn, who remains unchanged at €20 million, and two other big winners of the update: Onyeka and Paderborn keeper Dennis Seimen. The two saw their market values increase by €4m and €3m, respectively, to €10m each. Onyeka is now also a record holder, becoming the most valuable player in Bochum’s history, on par with Armel Bella-Kotchap. “Francis Onyeka is performing consistently in what has been a difficult season for VfL. Bayer Leverkusen will be very pleased about this and will consider whether to loan him out again next season or give him a place in the Werkself squad,” Transfermarkt market value admin Benjamin Buchloh said. “Together with Ben Farhat, Cajetan Lenz, Eichhorn and several others, he symbolises the enormous potential that now exists in Germany’s second division.

Seimen’s third plus in the third update this season sees him rise to become the fifth-most valuable German goalkeeper. Only Noah Atubolu, Jonas Urbig, Finn Dahmen and Alexander Nübel are ahead of the VfB Stuttgart loanee in the rankings. “He is confirming his enormous talent and is increasingly becoming the logical successor to Nübel,” Buchloh said. “Whether it’s Seimen, Urbig, Atubolu or Backhaus, Germany is once again confirming its reputation as a nation of goalkeepers.”

Bochum (+€5.4m), Karlsruhe (+€4.8m) and Paderborn (+€4.75m) are also among the teams that have seen the biggest increase in squad value due to the significant rise in value of their young players. However, the biggest jump was made by 1. FC Nürnberg, which recorded an increase of €5.6m and moved past Fortuna Düsseldorf, Holstein Kiel, and 1.FC Kaiserslautern to sixth place in the 2. Bundesliga. Despite mediocre results and a season in the middle of the table, this jump can be explained by the league’s youngest squad. Key players such as Mohamed Alì Zoma (+2.2 to €4 million), Berkay Yilmaz (+1 to €5 million) and Adam Markhiev (+€1 million) are 22, 21 and 23 years old, and talents such as Piet Scobel (+€300k to €600k) and Justin von der Hitz (+€300k to €700k) come off the bench.

Market values: Kaiserslautern and Hannover among the losers

1. FC Kaiserslautern and Hannover 96 have lost the most squad value, even though both teams are in the upper half of the table and Lower Saxony in particular has a realistic chance of promotion. While Mergim Berisha (-€1 million to €1.5 million) accounts for a large part of FCK’s loss after his winter transfer from the Bundesliga to the lower division, similar reasons can be cited for Elias Saad and Noah Weißhaupt at Hannover. “Both players are trying to play their way back into the spotlight of the Bundesliga via stints in the 2. Bundesliga and good performances,” Transfermarkt market value admin Julius Weißenstein said. Saad’s value has fallen from €4 million to €2.5 million, while Weißhaupt’s has fallen from €2.5 million to €2.5 million.

Overall, Hannover’s decline is spread across several players – such as Stefán Teitur Thórdarson (-0.8 to €1 million), Hendry Blank (-0.5 to €1 million) and Maik Nawrocki (-0.5 to €1.5 million) – but there are also big winners in coach Christian Titz’s team. But there are also good news. Bayern Munich loanee Noel Aseko has a say in the discussion about the biggest talent in the second division and, after increases of €2.3m (October) and €3m (December), has made another €2m jump to €8m. He has thus more than tenfolded his starting value from the beginning of the season.

There was little need for adjustment at league leaders Schalke 04. New signing Adil Aouchiche is the only player in the squad to see his value increase, rising by €700,000 to €2m after his strong start to the second half of the season. Dejan Ljubicic’s €500,000 drop to €2.5m can be explained by his loss of status after moving from a Europa League participant to a second-division club, despite scoring two goals. Overall, Schalke has seen a slight decline in squad value (-€0.2 to €45.2 million).

The largest percentage increase in the update is attributable to Mateusz Zukowski. The 24-year-old striker has virtually single-handedly revitalised 1.FC Magdeburg’s attack since his first appearance in the autumn and has scored eleven goals in 13 games. “Zukowski has surprised everyone. After several months out with an injury, he came out of nowhere and took the league by storm. The Pole, who was converted from right-back to clinical centre-forward, impresses with his power and shooting ability. Even if he helps Magdeburg avoid relegation, he will be difficult to keep hold of in the summer,” explains Fritze. At least FCM should be able to pocket a decent transfer fee. Zukowski saw his market value increase by €2.5m to €3m.

How Transfermarkt market values ​​work

The Transfermarkt market values ​​are calculated, taking into account various pricing models. A major factor is the Transfermarkt community, whose members discuss and evaluate player market values ​​in detail. In general, the Transfermarkt market values ​​are not to be equated with transfer fees.

The goal is not to predict a price but an expected value of a player in a free market. Both individual transfer modalities and situational conditions are relevant in determining market values. Examples of this are listed below. Transfermarkt does not use an algorithm ( you can find the detailed market value definition here ).