Barcelona forward Lionel Messi valued at €220m and worth €87m more than Cristiano Ronaldo

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has been valued at €220m (£172.2m) by the International Centre of Sports Studies Football Observatory, a daunting statistic for rumoured suitors Chelsea.

Messi is rated at €87m more than Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo (€133m), the Champions League and 2013 Ballon d'Or winner, while Blues winger Eden Hazard (€99m), one of six players in the top 10 currently playing in the Premier League, is third.

Hazard's Chelsea teammate Diego Costa (€84m), Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba (€72m) and Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero (€65m) follow in the 120-man list published in the Big-5 Weekly Post.

Liverpool's Raheem Sterling (€63m), Chelsea summer signing Cesc Fabregas (€62m), Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez (€61m) and Real Madrid record signing Gareth Bale (€60m) complete the top 10.

The values are calculated using statistical analysis of transfer fees from 2009, appearances, goals scored, age, position and the achievements of the team they play for.

Though Chelsea's pursuit of Messi has only been highlighted in recent days amid a crisis at Barcelona after a reported falling out with manager Luis Enrique, the latest valuation of the Argentina international is hugely discouraging for the west London club.

New financial fair play regulations mean any successful bid from Chelsea for Messi would have to be offset by substantial sales in the transfer market and ex-defender Jason Cundy says a deal is unlikely.

"I just don't see him leaving Barcelona," he told IBTimes UK. "He's been there since his early teens and he won't leave the club for another five or six years.

"As for Chelsea, well, signing Messi would be too much of a risk under the new laws. If you go back 10 years, when Roman Abramovich arrived, it could have happened.

"But not now. If they wanted to sign Messi, Chelsea would have to get rid of Eden Hazard, who's such a wonderful player. As a Chelsea fan, I'd hate to see that."

Messi's absence from Barcelona's post-Christmas training session has been widely attributed in the Spanish press to a falling out between the player and manager Enrique, while the four-time world footballer of the year was absent from the start of the club's 1-0 defeat to Real Sociedad.

Ex-striker Hristo Stoichkov said: "They have not known how to look after Messi. Tell me any foreign player who has not ended up leaving Barca through the back door."