Our list of the most valuable Baltic footballers (as per Transfermarkt data) in 2025 brings together five players who spent the year in regular senior football across Europe. Based in Italy, Spain, Germany, Belgium and Romania, they remained part of their clubs’ matchday rotations and continued to feature for their national teams.
The top five consists of three Lithuanian players and two Estonians. It should be noted that no Latvian player appears among the highest-valued names in 2025.
What follows is a review of how these players’ seasons unfolded, focusing on league and international appearances, minutes played and on-field contributions over the course of the year.
Gvidas Gineitis (€5.5m)
Torino, Italy | Lithuania
Gvidas Gineitis remained the highest-valued Baltic footballer throughout 2025, supported by consistent involvement at Torino and regular selection for Lithuania.
At club level, he featured frequently during the second half of the 2024–25 Serie A season. Between January and May, Gineitis made 17 league appearances, accumulating just under 800 minutes. Since then, he’s made 12 further Serie A appearances in the ongoing 2025-26 season. He scored three goals and provided four assists, often used as part of Torino’s midfield rotation rather than as a fixed starter.
His international role was even more prominent. Gineitis appeared in eight World Cup qualifiers and two friendlies during the year. He scored three goals and added one assist, operating in a more advanced midfield position than at club level. He was selected in every qualifying window and remained one of Lithuania’s most used outfield players.
Karl Jakob Hein (€3.0m)
Real Valladolid / Werder Bremen | Estonia
Karl Hein’s 2025 was shaped by regular action in between the posts. The Estonian goalkeeper spent the first half of the year as Real Valladolid’s first choice in La Liga before moving to Germany for second half of the year.
He played 13 league matches during the calendar year, completing the full 90 minutes in each. Valladolid were relegated, but Hein remained in goal throughout, facing a high volume of shots and rarely being rested.
In the summer, he moved on loan to Werder Bremen. Opportunities there were limited, but he still made two Bundesliga appearances in the autumn. At international level, Hein continued as Estonia’s number one, playing nine matches across World Cup qualifiers and friendlies, and only sitting out the match against Moldova in March and playing 45’ against Israel.
In December, he was named Estonia’s Footballer of the Year, finishing clearly ahead of the other nominees.
Maksim Paskotši (€2.8m)
Grasshopper Club Zürich / KAA Gent | Estonia
Maksim Paskotši divided his year between two leagues, maintaining regular playing time in both Switzerland and Belgium.
In the first part of 2025, he was a consistent presence for Grasshopper Club Zürich. He made 13 Swiss Super League appearances during the calendar year, scoring once and providing one assist. Most of his minutes came in central defence, though he was occasionally deployed in wider positions.
A summer move to KAA Gent brought increased competition. Paskotši featured in 16 Belgian Pro League matches during the autumn and recorded three goals and an assist. He remained a regular squad member for Estonia and finished second in the national Footballer of the Year vote.
Edgaras Utkus (€1.8m)
Cercle Brugge, Belgium | Lithuania
Edgaras Utkus spent 2025 as a regular member of Cercle Brugge’s defensive unit. He scored 3 goals and featured in 26 matches throughout the year, particularly during periods when the club were under pressure near the bottom of the Belgian Pro League table.
While his playing time was uneven at the beginning of the year following recovery form injury, the ongoing 2025-26 season sees Utkus as a solid member of Brugge’s starting XI.
Utkus was also a regular inclusion in Lithuania’s national team squads during World Cup qualifying. He featured in five World Cup qualification matches, missing the other three due to injury, and the two friendlies, against Denmark and Israel.
Edvinas Gertmonas (€1.4m)
Universitatea Cluj, Romania | Lithuania
Edvinas Gertmonas completed a full year as Universitatea Cluj’s first-choice goalkeeper. He played 16 league matches during the calendar year, exceeding 3,000 minutes in domestic competition and more or less establishing himself as the first choice goalkeeper for the Romanian side.
His performances drew attention within Romania, though no transfer followed in 2025.
At international level, Gertmonas remained part of Lithuania’s senior setup. He played in six out of eight World Cup Qualifiers and in the friendly against Denmark, where he conceded 5 goals.
Across the year, the five players shared a similar profile – all remained in regular use at club level, all were selected consistently by their national teams, and all accumulated value through availability and continuity rather than short runs of form. There is no magic formula in football to getting better – players need consistent competitive minutes to develop. Lithuanians and Estonians are leading the way, but why are there no Latvians to be found?
