The 485th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 20 outfield footballers in 66 leagues around the world who played the most official game minutes in 2024, either for clubs (at senior level only) or national teams (A, U23 or U21). Up to December 15, the most-used outfield player in absolute terms is FC Barcelona’s French international Jules Koundé: 5,872 minutes spread over 69 matches.

Fluminense’s Colombian Jhon Arias and Real Madrid’s Uruguayan Federico Valverde complete the podium. The next three places are occupied by players over the age of 30: Dutchman Virgil van Dijk (33.4), Argentina’s Nicolás Otamendi (36.8) and Switzerland’s Granit Xhaka (32.2). Reading FC’s New Zealander Tyler Bindon is the only footballer under the age of 20 in the top 100, demonstrating the sensitivity of coaches when it comes to balancing the efforts of younger players.

Also with respect to the top 100 outfield players overall, a clear majority of minutes were played in domestic club competitions: 73.2% of the total. The remaining playing time spread almost equally between international club competitions and national teams: 15.1% for the former and 13.4% for the latter (including the Olympic Games). These reports provide more exclusive analysis on the hot topics of match calendar and player workload.

>>> Top 20 per league

The 484th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks clubs worldwide according to the monetary balance of transfer transactions concerning non-academy players signed since 2015 and no longer owned by the club. The figures presented include any add-ons regardless of whether they have actually been paid or received, as well as revenues generated through sell-on clauses.

LOSC Lille has the most positive result, with €234m spent over the last decade on players no longer owned by the club, compared with €617m of revenues and a balance sheet of +€384 million. The French outfit are ahead of the Dutch side of Ajax (+€289m) and the Germans of RB Leipzig (+€288m). Three other clubs recorded a positive balance of over €200m: Eintracht Frankfurt, Atalanta and Benfica.

Another French club has had the worst trading record of the last decade: Paris St-Germain. The team from the capital has a deficit of €646 million, almost half of which is linked to the transfers of Kylian Mbappé (-€180m) and Neymar (-€122m). Two English teams also totalled a deficit in excess of €500 million: Manchester United (-€584m, maximum loss of €110m for Paul Pogba) and Chelsea (-€580m, maximum loss of €70m for Romelu Lukaku).

>>> Full data

Issue number 483 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post compares 144 men’s senior national teams in terms of the average age of line-ups fielded in 2024. Values range from a high of 30.38 years of age for Peru (ahead of Iran) to a low of 23.05 years of age for the Cayman Islands (ahead of Puerto Rico).

At UEFA member association level, the three men’s national A-teams having fielded the oldest players on average were Montenegro (28.94 years of age), Slovakia (28.92) and Switzerland (28.79). In contrast, the lowest values were recorded for San Marino (24.31 years of age), Northern Ireland (24.39) and Estonia (25.82).

The Post also presents the percentage of minutes by age group. Players aged 21 or under at the time of the matches played up to 14.5% minutes for European champions Spain. Worldwide, this proportion is around 10%. At confederation level, the lowest percentage of minutes by U21 players was recorded in South America (about 7%).

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The 482nd CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 100 players under the age of 20 (as of 27 November) with the most playing experience* in 2024, while having played fewer than 900 official game minutes at senior level in the previous year. Despite being just 17.8 years old, Barcelona’s centre back Pau Cubarsí tops the list.

England’s Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United) and Argentina’s Julio Soler (CA Lanús) complete the young revelations’ podium. They are ahead of Brazilian Estêvão Willian (Palmeiras, owned by Chelsea) and Turkey’s Semih Kiliçsoy (Beşiktaş JK). Belgium’s Konstantinos Karetsas (KRC Genk) is the youngest player listed, ahead of Ayyoub Bouaddi (LOSC Lille), Gabriel Carvalho (SC Internacional), Franco Mastantuono (River Plate) and Chris Rigg (Sunderland AFC).

No fewer than 38 leagues are represented in the top 100, with a maximum of 11 players from the Brazilian Serie A, followed by eight in the Argentinian top flight. The highest experience value of any player under the age of 20 was recorded for Lamine Yamal. However, the Spanish prodigy was already an established professional in 2023. More complete rankings are accessible on request.

* Projected on a basis of 100, the experience score takes into account the minutes played in official matches at senior level in 2024, weighted by the sporting level of the games and the results. More information on the exclusive CIES Football Observatory methodology is available in this note.

>>> Top 100

While a consultation was opened following the regulatory changes requested by the Court of Justice of the European Union in the context of the ‘Diarra’ case, the 481st CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the financial statements* of the transfer operations carried out over the last decade by the clubs of the world’s main leagues.

The analysis highlights the Premier League’s unique status as a provider of funds for teams around the world. The clubs in England’s top flight have indeed accumulated a net deficit of €11.6 billion over the last ten years, far more than the two other leagues with the most negative balance sheets: the Saudi Pro League (-€1.8 billion) and Italy’s Serie A (-€1.5 billion).

In contrast, the Portuguese Primeira Liga is the competition whose clubs have financially most benefited from transfer deals over the last ten years (+€2.4 billion), ahead of the Dutch Eredivisie, the Brasileirão and the English Championship (all around +€1.5 billion). Any future drop in transfer fees could therefore mainly affect teams in these leagues.

* The figures published include fixed transfer fees, any add-ons regardless of whether they have actually been paid, as well as sums paid in the context of paying loans. Within the limits of available information, the data on beneficiaries considers sell-on fees negotiated by previous clubs.

>>> Full data

>>> More data, including for clubs, in this report

The 480th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the Wyscout data on shots taken and conceded from the danger zone (the central rectangle of the penalty area) by teams in 63 leagues around the world. With 6.9 more shots from this zone attempted than conceded per game, former Rúben Amorim and Portugal’s Sporting CP have the best record in absolute terms.

As for the European big-5, the most positive gaps were recorded for Manchester City in the Premier League (with Leicester City last), Barcelona in La Liga (Real Valladolid at the opposite end), Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga (Bochum at the other extreme), Monaco in Ligue 1 (Montpellier at the bottom) and Atalanta in Italy (Monza in last position).

The Post also presents the difference between points achieved and expected according to a statistical model built on the basis of the difference in shots taken and conceded from the danger zone per match and club. The most positive gap in absolute terms was measured for Scotland’s Aberdeen (1.58 more points per game than expected according to shooting statistics), which reflects above-standard efficiency and may foreshadow a decline in performance.

>>> Full data

>>> More performance stats