Matvey Ponomarenko, the striker for Kyiv's Dynamo, has topped the ranking by the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) and become the most valuable central forward under the age of 21 among players competing outside the five leading European leagues. Analysts have valued his transfer fee at €26.8 million. Notably, the entire top three of the list was made up of representatives of the Ukrainian Premier League, a striking signal of the growing competitiveness of the national championship on the international stage.
This is reported by Sport RBC.UA, citing official data from the CIES study (see the publication's article). The ranking covers the best young forwards in world football playing outside the top-5 European championships, and it is precisely in this category that Ukrainian clubs delivered an outstanding result, overtaking players from other leagues.
Matvey Ponomarenko: the path from debut to the top of the ranking
The high analyst valuation is the result of the forward's impressive performances on both the domestic and international stage. Ponomarenko made his debut for Dynamo's first team at the end of 2023 and has since firmly established himself in the starting lineup. In total, he has played 44 matches for the club, scoring 21 goals and providing one assist. At the end of the previous season, the striker was named the top scorer of the UPL, which became the key factor in the rise of his market value.
On the international stage, the forward has also made his mark: on 26 March 2026, Matvey put on the shirt of the Ukraine national team for the first time in a World Cup 2026 qualifying playoff match against Sweden. In that same game he also scored his first goal for the national team, confirming his status as one of the country's most promising young attacking players.
Shakhtar dominates the top-3: Meirelles and Elias
Second place in the ranking was taken by Lucas Meirelles, who moved to Donetsk's Shakhtar in the summer of 2025. The striker has already played 31 matches for the "miners," with 12 goals and two assists to his name. Rounding out the top three was Kauã Elias, who joined Shakhtar in the same year: since then the Brazilian has played 49 matches, scoring 15 goals and making eight assists in the Donbas club's shirt.
What this means for Ukrainian football
The fact that the first three places in this prestigious world ranking were taken by footballers from a single national championship underscores the systematic growth of Ukrainian football. The UPL is increasingly serving not only as a domestic market but also as a platform where young talents build up international value and attract the attention of European clubs. For Dynamo and Shakhtar, this is an additional argument in favour of their status as the region's main exporters of young attacking players.
