Most Valuable Soccer Players Not At Euro 2024 – Best Players Not at Euros

Euro 2024 features some of the continent’s best soccer talent delighting fans. However, back home, many elite players are watching from their sofas having not made it.

With glaring absences being felt across squads and even entire nations not at the competition, we’ve ranked the top 10 best soccer players not at Euro 2024. Plus, everything you need to know about why they didn’t make the grade.

Top 10 Best Players Not at Euro 2024 by Transfer Value

Some of the most exciting talents in all of European football aren’t at Euro 2024. Here, with the help of data from Transfermarkt.

Why Some of the Best Players are Missing Euro 2024

Some of the world’s best soccer stars are missing out on the summer tournament. Players who lit up their leagues just months ago will be watching Euro 2024 on TV.

1. Erling Haaland

There’s only one reason Erling Haaland would be left out of a major tournament like Euro 2024, and it’s not by choice.

Despite being one of the highest paid soccer players, Haaland could only help Norway to a third-placed finish in the Euro 2024 qualifying group – six points behind Scotland.

Norway failed to qualify for Euro 2024 and this meant the Premier League’s two-time Golden Boot winner will spend the summer watching it on television like the rest of us.

The 6ft 4in striker lit up the Premier League when he joined champions Manchester City in 2022 and immediately helped them to win a historic treble, becoming only the second team to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in one season after Manchester United did it in 1998/99.

If things continue this way, being remembered as one of the best soccer players of all time is not out of the for Haaland.

2. Martin ?degaard

Arsenal took Manchester City down to the wire in last season’s Premier League race, and the best online sportsbooks had them among the favorites all year.

That was thanks in no small part to Martin ?degaard – but he joins our list of the best players who won’t be at Euro 2024.

Along with Haaland, ?degaard was booted out of Euro 2024 before it began when Norway missed out on qualification.

It’s a shame that we’ll miss out on what the talented duo could have brought to Euro 2024, but we suspect that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta will be secretly relieved that one of his key players gets a summer to rest up.

3. Alexander Isak

Newcastle United had a season of ups and downs, but one man who delivered throughout was Alexander Isak. The Swede bagged 21 goals in 30 Premier League appearances, plus four more in cup competitions – including the team’s only goal in their impressive 1-1 draw away to Paris Saint-Germain.

Sweden’s lackluster Euro 2024 qualifying campaign included an embarrassing 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Azerbaijan, although there is a little controversy around their 1-1 result with Belgium in a match which was halted due to a terror alert in Brussels.

Regardless of Sweden’s underperformances, it’s undeniable that Alexander Isak is one of the most valuable soccer team players not at Euro 2024.

4. Frenkie de Jong

Unlike many of the soccer stars on this list of the best players not at the Euros, Frenkie de Jong’s country did qualify – he just won’t be joining them. Anyone who has watched him and knows how to bet will have backed him to be at Euro 2024, but it was sadly out of the Dutchman’s hands.

De Jong picked up an ankle injury playing for La Liga giants Barcelona in March. Such is the importance of the 27-year-old, he was still selected for the provisional Netherlands squad, but couldn’t shake off his injury in time.

The Oranje will be bitterly disappointed that one of their best players is not playing at Euro 2024, but there’s no doubt he’ll have the opportunity to build on his 54 caps at future major tournaments.

5. Viktor Gy?keres

Sweden’s Viktor Gy?keres has been outstanding since moving to the Portuguese capital and would have been one of the Euro 2024 Golden Boot betting favorites if the nation had qualified.

The star striker is now one of the most in-demand forwards and is being courted by Europe’s finest clubs.

Gy?keres scored an impressive 43 goals in 50 games in all competitions during the 2023/24 season, but will be taking the summer off. This is down to Sweden failing to qualify for Euro 2024, losing four of eight games.

Gy?keres’ scoring form hasn’t gone unnoticed and it is highly likely he’ll leave Sporting this summer. He previously played in England, most recently for Coventry City, and he could soon return, this time to one of the Premier League giants.

The Swede’s compatriot, Dejan Kulusevski (valued at $60m) is also missing from the Euros, and will join Tottenham Hotspurs’ preseason on time.

6. Christopher Nkunku

Even by Chelsea’s sometimes chaotic standards, this season was particularly turbulent. Their season featured a 6-0 win against Everton, a 5-0 drubbing from Arsenal, and the latest winning goal in Premier League history against Manchester United.

This was followed by manager Mauricio Pochettino getting the sack. This is despite signs he was getting the young team to click.

One player who felt the full weight of the season was former RB Leipzig forward Christopher Nkunku. The creative attacker only managed 11 appearances all season, with one injury seeing him miss 109 days of action.

His stop-start season wasn’t enough to get himself into the mix in a talented France team packed with attacking threats, including the likes of Kylian Mbappé, Antoine Griezmann and Marcus Thuram. The stacked squad sees France favorites at many of the best soccer betting sites, and with good reason.

Aston Villa’s Moussa Diaby, valued at $60m, also didn’t make the final France squad. This is despite being in the squad for France’s pre-tournament friendlies.

7. Marcus Rashford

It’s been a difficult season for the one-club man who was born and raised in Manchester.

Being pictured at a nightclub and missing training the next day is not the behavior expected of an under-scrutiny top-level soccer player, let alone one representing English giants Manchester United.

But it’s not just his off-field antics that have landed Rashford in hot water. In the league, he managed just seven goals in 33 appearances. Compare that to the 17 in 35 he scored in 2022/23 and it’s easy to see why he’s fallen out of favor.

Nonetheless, it’s a big risk leaving out such an experienced player, who offers a kind of attacking threat England may miss.

8. Jack Grealish

If you were betting on Euro 2024 squad selections, you’d think a player who set a British transfer record of over $125 million, then won the league for three straight seasons – including a ‘treble’ – would be an automatic pick. Apparently not.

Jack Grealish is part of one of the most successful teams ever assembled at Manchester City, but isn’t a guaranteed starter and his game appears to have gone backward.

He made 20 league appearances during the 2023/24 season, with three goals and one assist, plus two more assists in the Champions League.

While he hasn’t set the world alight in the way manager Pep Guardiola might have hoped, especially given his lofty price tag. It was still a surprise to see him left out when Gareth Southgate revealed his squad for Euro 2024.

9. Ben White

England faced somewhat of a defensive injury crisis in the runup to Euro 2024. Ever-present Harry Maguire missed out due to a calf injury and Luke Shaw boarded the plane despite harboring his own injury, putting at least two spots under scrutiny.

With that in mind, many may have turned to Ben White, a man who played all but one of Arsenal’s league games, as they finished second.

Not only is Ben White one of the best players not at the Euros, but he’s also versatile, having played at right-back, left-back and center-back. Nonetheless, it wasn’t to be, as the 26-year-old didn’t even make the 33-man provisional squad.

One possible reason could relate to an incident in March where White made himself unavailable for selection. And in 2022 he left the squad for unrevealed personal reasons. Perhaps the real reason for his omission will be revealed in time.

10. Michael Olise

The superb Crystal Palace winger can play for France, Algeria, England or Nigeria, but has chosen Les Bleus. Michael Olise is one of the most exciting attacking players in the Premier League and looks destined for big things.

The London-born Frenchman already has seven caps for France’s under-21 team and call-up to the senior side can’t be that far away.

Olise’s terrific end to the 2023/24 season had many believing he could be called up to the senior team for Euro 2024. However, manager Didier Deschamps chose to leave him out of the talent-filled French attacking line-up which, in current Euro 2024 odds, are favorites with many.