The ransom gap between Japanese and Korean national team players has widened dramatically.
Japan Football Channel announced the market value of the Japanese national team players on the 26th 'Transfermarkt, a media outlet specializing in transfer information. The Japanese national team's best Eleven, consisting of high-priced players, was also unveiled. The total of 11 members amounted to 233 million euros (about 370 billion won). The best-elevance includes midfielder Sano Kaishu, who grew up in Mainz, and Suzuki Zaion, who became the main goalkeeper in Italy's Serie A Parma, who has seen their market value rise sharply over the past year, he explained.
The highest-paid player among Japanese players is Kaoru Mitoma, who plays for Brighton. With 40 million euros (about 63.5 billion won), it ranks first in Asia along with Kim Min-jae. The second-ranked Japanese player is Kubo Takefusa of Real Sociedad. It is estimated at 30 million euros (about 47.6 billion won). Ito Hiroki, who plays for Kim Min-jae and Bayern Munich, and Freiburg's Doan Ritz are tied for third with 25 million euros (about 39.7 billion won). Kaishu and Zaion, mentioned on the Football Channel, tied for fifth with 20 million euros (about 31.7 billion won).
Japan showed a huge difference from South Korea, even considering that it consisted of high-priced players. If a best-Eleven is made based on high-priced players in Korea, Oh Hyun-kyu will be on the striker, Son Heung-min, Lee Kang-in and Hwang Hee-chan will be on the second line. Hwang In-beom and Lee Jae-sung are in the third line, while Lee Tae-seok, Kim Min-jae, Cho Yoo-min and Seol Young-woo are in the defense. The goalkeeper is Cho Hyun-woo.
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| The final match of Group B of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup between South Korea and Kuwait at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 10th. Lee Kang-in is thanking South Korea at a celebration of its advance to the World Cup held after its 4-0 victory. Sangam = Reporter Jung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.6.10/ |
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The total value of the 11 members is only 120.85 million euros (about 19.1 billion won). Compared to Japan, it is only slightly more than half. It is impossible to erase the impression that Japanese players are highly valued at transfer marks, but even considering this, it is a wide gap.
The gap between Korea and Japan widened greatly was the difference between players except for star players.South Korea's ransom is high only from some star players, Kim Min-jae to Lee Kang-in, Son Heung-min, Hwang Hee-chan and Hwang In-beom. Five players accounted for 89% of the total value of the team with a ransom of 107 million euros (about 170 billion won). In other words, the remaining six can only fill 11%.
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| The final match of Group B of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup between South Korea and Kuwait at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 10th. Son Heung-min greets his fans at a celebration for advancing to the World Cup after South Korea won 4-0. Sangam = Reporter Jung Jae-geun cjg@sportschosun.com /2025.6.10/ |
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On the other hand, Japan boasts a similar level of value to nearly 20 players, with a ransom of more than 10 million euros (about 15.8 billion won). South Korea has a wide gap between players, with 4.5 million euros (about 7.1 billion won) followed by Hwang In-beom, who has 10 million euros. Due to the special situation of Korean players who have to go to the military, it is difficult to advance to Europe compared to Japanese players, so the gap in ransom is inevitable.
However, the concern is that there are not many players in their early 20s who will support the next generation of ace players. In Japan, players like Kaishu and Zaion in their early 20s are coming up, but in Korea, there are few young players in their early 20s. After the current national team's main players, they are players like Yang Min-hyuk in his late teens. By the time the generation born between 1992 and 1996 retires, the gap with Japan is expected to widen further.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
