The British footballers to have seen a property market flop between their hometowns and current clubs

With the Premier League returning this weekend just gone, the latest research by Birmingham estate and lettings agent, Barrows and Forrester, has taken a look at which British players have seen the biggest transfer fee from a property market perspective when looking at their hometown vs in their current club locations.

Jack Grealish’s move to Man City might have broken the bank with a transfer fee of £105,750,000, but it hasn’t been the best from a property market point of view. His hometown of Solihull is currently home to an average property price of £309,171. However, with an average house price of just £196,333, his move to Manchester City has seen a dip of -36% in property price pedigree.

Sancho and Sterling are the only players to have seen a larger decline having both moved from London to Manchester. House prices in Trafford are -40% lower than Sancho’s hometown of Southwark, while Manchester City house prices are -60% lower than Sterling’s home town of Brent.

But a move to Manchester isn’t always a negative one from a property price standpoint. House prices in Trafford where Harry Maguire now applies his trade are 82% higher than in his hometown of Sheffield.

Kyle Walker was also born and bred in Sheffield and his move to Manchester City means a 3% uplift in property market values.

Property values in Madrid are 9% more expensive than the average Cardiff house price. So while Bale might not be having the best time in Spain, he’s still made a positive property price move.

The two most notable British players to have seen the biggest property price uplifts between their hometowns and current clubs are Ben Chilwell and Ben White.

Currently at Chelsea, house prices in Hammersmith and Fulham are 178% higher than Chillwell’s hometown of Milton Keynes while house prices in Islington, where White currently plays for Arsenal, come in 151% higher than his hometown of Poole.

Managing Director of Barrows and Forrester, James Forrester, commented:

“It’s great to see so many British players progressing from grassroots football in their hometowns to the global stage playing for some of the best teams in the world. But who would have thought that in doing so, some of them would be making a negative move where property prices are concerned.

Of course, with the mind-boggling amounts of money involved in the modern game we can rest assured that where ever they’re playing, they’ll be living in some of the most expensive homes on the market.”