Between January 2015 and December 2019, Red Star Belgrade won 130 domestic league matches out of the 135 during which they scored the first goal: 96.3%. This is the highest value measured among clubs from 92 top divisions worldwide ahead of Sherif Tiraspol from Moldova (94.1%) and Albirex Niigata Singapore (93.3%). The full analysis is available in the 293rd CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post.

The highest percentages of wins in case of first goal for current big-5 league teams over the five years studied were recorded for Paris St-Germain (89.9%, 124 wins out of 138), Barcelona (88.5%, 116 out of 131) and Manchester City (87.1%, 115 out of 132). Per league, the lowest value were recorded for Toulouse, Augsburg, Udinese, Eibar and Southampton. The lowest percentage overall was recorded for the Australian side Central Coast Mariners (20 wins out of 53, 38%).

At league level, the values range from four fifth of wins for the team having scored the first goal in the Moldavian top division to only about two thirds in the Chilean one. The average for the 92 competitions analysed is just below 70%. At the level of the big-5, the percentages go from 71.1% in the English Premier League to 67.8% in the German Bundesliga. The lowest values in Europe were recorded for the Belgian and Norwegian top divisions (66.3% in both cases).

Issue number 292 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks countries worldwide according to the number of their representatives having played professional football abroad during the calendar year 2019. Brazil is at the top of the table (1,600 players, of which 74.6% active in top division leagues) ahead of France (1,027, 74.0%) and Argentina (972, 75.5%).

In total, 186 national associations had at least one player expatriated in the 141 leagues from 93 countries included in the sample. However, altogether, Brazil, France and Argentina provided up to almost one quarter of the total foreign workforce in global football (22.5%). Nigeria is the main African exporting nation (399 players abroad), while Japan is the principal Asian one (161).

The CIES Football Observatory Atlas of Migration presents the main destinations for each origin. This exclusive tool notably reveals that Portugal is by far the main destination for Brazilians, ahead of Italy and Japan. The three main destinations for the French expatriates are England, Belgium and Luxembourg, while those of the Argentineans are Chile, Mexico and Spain.

The 291st Weekly Post of the CIES Football Observatory highlights the main clubs from where current big-5 league players departed to reach the five major European leagues. At the top of the stepping-stone club rankings are three regular European Cup participants: AFC Ajax (22 players currently in the big-5 were recruited there), SL Benfica (21) and RB Salzburg (20).

In the top 15 positions also are three Belgian teams (KRC Genk, RSC Anderlecht and Club Brugge KV), two further Portuguese clubs (Sporting Clube de Portugal and FC Porto), an additional Dutch one (PSV Eindhoven), as well Swiss (FC Basel), Croatian (Dinamo Zagreb) and Danish (FC København) sides. The B-teams of Real Madrid (4th) and FC Barcelona (11th) also figure high in the rankings. The first non-European team is Boca Juniors (15th).

The 54th edition of the CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report broadens the analysis by revealing that recruitment from a non-big-5 league team is the most common way of entering the five major European leagues (48%), followed by advancement from the youth academy or the B-team of a big-5 league club (39%, up to 50% for players who made their debut in the Spanish Liga) and the promotion from a second division of the club of belonging (13%).

The 290th edition of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks clubs from 87 top divisions worldwide according to the number of players fielded in domestic league matches since January 2015. The highest value was recorded for the Colombian side of Deportivo Pasto (176 different players), while the lowest one was measured for Shanghai SIPG in China (44 players).

South American clubs are over-represented among those with the highest squad turnover: 7 in the top 10 positions and 14 in the top 20. Conversely, many top-flight European teams are among those who fielded the least different players in domestic league matches since January 2015, such as Manchester City (52), Real Madrid (54) and Bayern Munich (59).

Generally speaking, the richest leagues are not those where clubs change the most players. The average number of players fielded per club and season varies between 38.7 in the Paraguayan top division and 22.1 in the San Marino one. The highest values in Europe were recorded in Romania (30.5 players per club and season) and Croatia (30.2).

The coronavirus pandemic is heavily impacting the football industry. Issue number 289 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the gaps in the players’ estimated transfer value in the event that no matches will be played and no contract will be extended until the end of June. As such, the total player transfer value at big-5 league level would decrease by 28%: from €32.7 to €23.4 billion.

The extent of the decrease varies according to several factors such as the players’ age, contract duration, career path and recent performance. The greatest loss in relative terms concerns ageing footballers with short-term contracts who played fewer matches during current season than in the previous one. As matter of example, Paul Pogba’s estimated transfer value would almost halve from €65M to €35M.

The greatest potential percentage loss per club was measured for Olympique de Marseille: -38%. Conversely, the lowest one was recorded for another French Ligue 1 team: Stade Brestois (-16%). The values presented have been calculated on the basis of the exclusive CIES Football algorithm. The transfer value ranges for big-5 league footballers before the league shutdown are available here.

Two Borussia Dortmund players head the rankings of big-5 league footballers born in or after 2000 with the highest transfer values according to the CIES Football Observatory algorithm: Jadon Sancho and Erling Håland. The Englishman is valued at almost €200 M and the Norwegian at €101 M. While the value of Sancho probably reached its peak, that of Håland is destined to grow. The top 50 list is available for free in issue number 288 of the Weekly Post.

The Real Madrid’s attacking duo Rodrygo and Vinícius have the third and fourth highest estimated values: €89 M and €74 M respectively. Both Brazilians also have a high potential for progression. With four nationals, England is the most represented origin in the top 10: Jadon Sancho, Callum Hudson-Odoi (5th, €72 M), Mason Greenwood (8th, €50 M) and Phil Foden (9th, also €50 M).

With an estimated value of €53 M, the French midfielder Eduardo Camavinga (Stade Rennais) is the youngest player in the top 10. Another footballer born in 2002, Ansu Fati (FC Barcelona) is worth more than €40 M. The value ranges for all big-5 league footballers is freely available here. The 53rd Monthly Report presents the variables and approach developed by the CIES Football Observatory research team to assess the transfer value of footballers on a scientific basis.

The 287th edition of the Weekly Post ranks clubs from the five major European leagues according to the value on the transfer market of players under contract. The analysis takes into account the 20 players per club with the highest values as per the algorithm exclusively developed by the CIES Football Observatory research team.

With an aggregated value of €1.4 billion, Liverpool heads the table. Jürgen Klopp’s team outranks Manchester City, the two Spanish giants (Barcelona and Real Madrid) and Chelsea. The valuation of the latter team has strongly increased thanks to the outbreak of many young talents following the transfer ban imposed by FIFA to the London club. The German side Paderborn is at the bottom of the table.

The estimate ranges for all of the big-5 league players with a sufficient level of professional experience are freely available here. The 53rd Monthly Report presents the variables included in the statistical model developed by the CIES Football Observatory to assess the transfer values of professional footballers on a scientific basis.

The 286th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks current big-5 league players according to the age at which they have reached 50, 100, 200 and 300 caps in these competitions. The Milan AC goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma leads the 50 and 100-match tables, while the Real Madrid forward Eden Hazard is at the top for the 200 and 300-match rankings.

Gianluigi Donnarumma played his 50th game in the big-5 even before his 18th birthday, and the 100th at 19.2 years of age only! In both cases, he outranks another goalkeeper, the French Alban Lafont (FC Nantes). The Basque Iker Muniain (Athletic Club) is the outfield footballer having reached the earliest the 50 and 100 caps in the big-5: at 18.2 and 19.8 years of age respectively.

Eden Hazard holds the records of precocity for both the 200 and 300 big-5 league matches. The Belgian was only 23 years old when he played his 200th game in the five major European championships. He is the only player currently in the big-5 who reached his 300th cap before 26 years of age. Five additional footballers played 300 games before their 27th birthday: James Milner, Moussa Sissoko, Iker Muniain, Miralem Pjani? and Cesc Fàbregas.

Issue number 285 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights the players who created the most big chances for their teammates in big-5 league matches over three different periods: last year, last three years and last five years. Lionel Messi is clearly at the head of the tables for the last five and three years, while Ángel Di María tops the last-year rankings.

According to the data from OptaPro, over the five past years, Lionel Messi created a big chance every 90 minutes. The frequency of big chances created by the Argentinean went even up during the last year (87 minutes). This clearly indicates that the Barcelona prodigy is far from being on the downhill slope of his career.

At the second and third positions for the different periods analysed are Ángel Di María and Kevin de Bruyne for the last five years, Thomas Müller and Kevin de Bruyne for the past three, as well as Thomas Müller and Lionel Messi for the last one. During last year, besides Lionel Messi, three other players have created at least one big chance every 90 minutes: Thomas Müller (every 72 minutes), Ángel Di María (82 minutes) and Kevin de Bruyne (every 87 minutes). This is the fab four for chance creation!

Issue number 284 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks 92 top divisions worldwide according to the average number of cards (yellow and red) per game during the current or the last completed one. The figures range from 2.3 in Japan up to 7.0 in Bolivia. Within Europe, the extreme values were recorded in Norway (3.1) and Ukraine (6.2).

The study reveals great geographical differences in aggressiveness put in the game. Eight out of the ten leagues with the most cards are from Latin America: Bolivia, Uruguay, Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Argentina. At the opposite end, three of the five leagues with the least cards are from Asia: Japan, Vietnam and South Korea.

The values for the five major European leagues vary between 3.7 cards per game in the English Premier League and 5.8 in the Italian Serie A. Per club, the figures vary between 1.0 for Borussia Dortmund and 3.7 for Bologna, while at worldwide level they range between 0.8 for FC Tokyo and 4.0 for Montevideo Wanderers.

The renewal of the fruitful collaboration with OptaPro has allowed the CIES Football Observatory to innovate by developing its first ever technical report on a non-European competition: the Major League Soccer (MLS) of the United States and Canada. The 52nd Monthly Report compares the style of play of the MLS with that of the five major European leagues.

The style of football played in the MLS differs from that of the big-5 in two principal aspects: the pressing on opponents and the aerial game. The average number of duels per match recorded in the MLS is lower than that observed in each of the five major European leagues. This reflects the lesser pressure applied by players on whoever has possession. Consequently, MLS teams have the opportunity to take more shots.

Partly due to the lesser pressure on the player who has possession, the MLS footballers privilege the passing game on the ground. This is reflected in a much lower number of aerial duels: -14% in comparison to the big-5 and -25% in comparison to the English Premier League. The MLS teams also carry out fewer crosses than clubs in any of the five major European leagues.

While the Major League Soccer has already undergone significant development over the past decade, the enthusiasm for soccer in the United States, with the organisation of the FIFA World Cup in focus, will allow the competition to grow further, both economically and sportingly. MLS teams will thus be able to attract more top talents from abroad.

The challenge will also be to develop better footballers on site and retaining them for longer. While some of them will continue to join the best performing European clubs, the eventual improvement of the training system will strengthen the US national team, with very positive fallout for the MLS development and the popularity of soccer across the nation at large. Go to the Report.

Issue number 283 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the financial balance for transfers carried out by clubs worldwide during the last two transfer windows. Real Madrid recorded the most negative balance (- €181 million) ahead of Aston Villa (- €169 m) and Barcelona (- €166 m). At the opposite end of the table are Chelsea (+ €205 m), Benfica (+ €167) and Ajax (+ €137 m).

The seven fee paying transfers concluded by Real Madrid during the summer 2019 and winter 2020 transfer windows had a total estimated cost of €330 m (add-ons included). During the same period, the incomes generated by the Spanish team for the release of seven other players were €149 m. On its side, Chelsea earned €250 by transferring 16 footballers, while it only spent €45 m to reinforce its squad (Mateo Kova?i?).

At the level of the five major European leagues, the net balance for transfer operations range from - €844 million for the English Premier League and + €106 m for the French Ligue 1. Negative balances were also recorded in the Spanish Liga (- € 418 m), the Italian Serie A (- € 407 m) and the German Bundesliga (- € 263 m).

Issue number 282 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the list of players born in the 2000s who played the highest percentage of domestic league minutes during current season. Dejan Kulusevski (Parma, on loan from Juventus) tops the table for the big-5 league players ahead of Sandro Tonali (Brescia), Max Aarons (Norwich) and the 17-year-old French talent Eduardo Camavinga (Stade Rennais).

Conor Gallagher (Swansea, on loan from Chelsea) heads the rankings for the second divisions of big-5 league countries. The Spanish prodigy Pedri (Las Palmas) is fourth. Born in 2002, the attacking midfielder has already signed a long-term contract for FC Barcelona. At 19th position is a player born in 2003: Jude Bellingham (Birmingham City). The English midfielder already scored four goals in the Championship.

The Dutchman Sven Botman is at the top of the rankings for players from the other top divisions taken into account. The centre back loaned by Ajax to Heerenveen outranks the Brazilian midfielder Gustavo Assunção (Famalicão) and three very young talents: the Czech forward Adam Hložek (2002, Sparta Prague), the Australian midfielder Louis D’Arrigo (2001, Adelaide) and the Swiss defender Leonidas Stergiou (2002, St-Gall).

Issue number 281 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post compares points achieved by teams from 31 European leagues with points expected according to a statistical model taking into account ball possession, as well as the number and distance of both shots taken and conceded as per InStat data. The analysis highlights the great efficiency of clubs such as Benfica (+0.71 points per match), Liverpool (+0.66), Juventus (+0.64), Schalke 04 (+0.57) and Valencia (+0.55).

The pitch production of Benfica should have allowed them to achieve 2.11 points per match compared to 2.82 in reality. The greatest positive gap out of the 496 clubs from the 31 leagues surveyed was recorded for Astra Giurgiu (+0.85). The Romanian side obtained almost two points per match despite having conceded more shots than those taken and having had only about 45% of ball possession. The same holds true for Turkish league leader Sivaspor (+0.73).

The greatest negative gap overall was registered for Heart of Midlothian: 0.62 points achieved compared to 1.39 expected (-0.77). Champions League round of 16 participants Atalanta (-0.71) and Napoli (-0.61) were also particularly inefficient with respect to their pitch production. Manchester City (-0.36) and Chelsea (-0.33) are at the bottom of the Premier League efficiency rankings. More exclusive InStat data is accessible in the CIES Football Observatory Performance Atlas.

Issue number 280 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks teams from 35 European domestic leagues according to their number of fouls per game as per InStat data. Champions League titleholders Liverpool FC committed the least fouls per match so far this season (8.1). This is partially related to the less strict refereeing style in the English Premier League: 20.4 fouls whistled per game compared to an average of 27.2 in the 35 competitions surveyed.

Eight Premier League teams are in the top 18 positions of the rankings: Liverpool, Newcastle, Bournemouth, Leicester, Chelsea, Norwich, Tottenham and Manchester City. If we relate fouls committed to the average measured at league level, Hamburger SV heads the table (-32% of fouls with respect to rivals), ahead of Slovan Bratislava (-29%) and Shakhtar Donetsk (-27%). Vojvodina made the most fouls per match overall (22.9), while Zlaté Moravce committed the most compared to league rivals (+38%).

Per league, the lowest average number of fouls per game whistled by referees was recorded in the English Premier League (20.4), the Danish Superliga (21.0) and the Dutch Eredivisie (21.6). At the opposite end of the table are the top divisions of six Eastern European countries: Serbia (34.9), Bulgaria (31.6), Czech Republic (31.4), Romania (31.0), Poland (30.9) and Ukraine (30.5). For more exclusive analysis, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

For the first time, a CIES Football Observatory report turns its eye exclusively to Latin America. It analyses the squads of four leagues: the Brazilian Serie A, the Argentinean Superliga, the Chilean Primera División and the Mexican Liga MX. Il notably reveals the specificity of the Mexican league with respect to the presence of footballers imported from abroad. Expatriates account for the majority of players in line-ups, while they only play about a tenth of minutes in Brazil and Argentina. Access the study.

The report also brings to light the greater emphasis on the promotion of talents from youth academies by Argentinian teams. Boca Juniors is the most important training club, followed by three other clubs from Argentina: Vélez Sarsfield, River Plate and Newell’s Old Boys. The most important training clubs for the other three countries studied are São Paulo FC in Brazil, Atlas Guadalajara in Mexico and Universidad de Chile in Chili.

The study also shows the central role of Argentina as a provider of players for the leagues analysed. Indeed, Argentinians constitute the most numerous contingents of expatriates in Mexico, as well as in Chili and Brazil. On the contrary, only eight Brazilians are expatriated in the leagues studied (all in Mexico). The other countries with many expatriates in the championships taken into account are Colombia, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Finally, the report illustrates the specificity of the Brazilian Serie A regarding the plethora of players used by teams. This situation reflects the status of Brazil as a global source of labour par excellence. From this point of view, just playing a few matches can open the doors towards a transfer abroad, even though not in the most prestigious football countries.

The CIES Football Observatory opens a new exciting decade of football analytics with the exclusive publication of its traditional list of the big-5 league players with the greatest estimated transfer values. At the top three positions of the table are Kylian Mbappé (France and Paris St-Germain), Raheem Sterling (England and Manchester City), as well Mohammed Salah (Egypt and Liverpool). Issue number 279 of the Weekly Post presents the 166 footballers in the big-5 valued at more than €50 million.

Per position, the most expensive players from a transfer value perspective are Alisson Becker for goalkeepers (€77 M), Virgil van Dijk for centre backs (€93 M), Trent Alexander-Arnold for full backs (€110 M), James Maddison for midfielders (€112 M) and Kylian Mbappé for forwards (€265 M). Eleven out of the 20 big-5 league footballers with an estimated value of at least €100 million play for English Premier League clubs.

There are at least two players worth more than €100 M are in each of the remaining big-5 leagues: three in the Liga (Messi, Griezmann and João Felix), two in the Ligue 1 (Mbappé and Neymar), two in the Serie A (Martínez and Lukaku), as well as two in the Bundesliga (Sancho and Werner). More information about the exclusive approach developed by the CIES Football Observatory research team to estimate transfer values on a scientific basis is available in this methodological note.

The CIES Football Observatory has developed a property algorithm to assess the performance of footballers from the exclusive data produced by the leading sports company OptaPro. Issue number 278 of the Weekly Post presents the MVP per big-5 league club, as well as the top values for each of the six areas of the game analysed. Only players fielded for at least nine (MVPs) and respectively six (per domain) full domestic league matches are included.

The MVPs are footballers whose performance had the biggest influence in their teams’ results. We notably find Marco Verratti at Paris St-Germain, Lionel Messi at Barcelona, Toni Kroos at Real Madrid, Kevin de Bruyne at Manchester City, Virgil van Dijk at Liverpool, Ciro Immobile at Lazio, Jamie Vardy at Leicester City, Dimitri Payet at Olympique Marseille, Miralem Pjani? at Juventus, Sven Bender at Bayer Leverkusen and Milan Škriniar at Inter.

At Real Madrid, five different footballers head the tables per area of the game: Raphaël Varane for rigour (duels), Carlos Casemiro for recovery (interceptions), Toni Kroos for distribution (passes), Eden Hazard for take on (dribbles) and Karim Benzema for both chance creation (assists) and shooting (attempts). At Barcelona, three players only top the rankings: Lionel Messi for all of the attacking indicators, Clément Lenglet for rigour and Sergio Busquets for both recovery and distribution.

The leading sports data company InStat has developed an exclusive Index to assess the performance of football players on an objective basis. Issue number 277 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the top 10 rankings for 35 European competitions. The highest InStat Index overall was recorded for the recent Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi: 401.

Per position, the top three ranked footballers are Frederik Rönnow, Wojciech Szczesny and Marwin Hitz among goalkeepers, Virgil van Dijk, Joël Veltman and Willy Boly among centre backs, Andrew Robertson, Ricardo Pereira and Ben Chilwell among full backs, Kevin de Bruyne, Papu Gómez and Marco Verratti among midfielders, as well as Lionel Messi, Hakim Ziyech and Kylian Mbappé among forwards.

The values for all players from the 35 European leagues covered are available in the exclusive InStat Index tool on the CIES Football Observatory website. This unique tool allows users to filter footballers per league, position and age. It is thus possible to focus on specific players’ profiles, as extensively done by club representatives from a scouting perspective.

No outfield footballer played a higher percentage of domestic league minutes of a big-5 league team in the 2010s as Lionel Messi. The Argentinean was fielded for 83.4% of total minutes played by Barcelona in the Liga. This is the second value overall behind that measured for Steve Mandanda (84.2% of Olympique Marseille minutes). The 276th issue of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the most fielded footballer for each of the 42 clubs always present in the big-5 in the 2010s.

The 50th Monthly Report analyses the make-up of these teams over the course of the decade that is about to end. The unique case of Athletic Club Bilbao is reflected in almost all the indicators analysed. FC Barcelona’s case shows that territorial anchoring can be a plus even for a global club. Their success is for the most part linked to the exceptional qualities of home-grown players such as Lionel Messi, Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, Gerard Piqué or Sergio Busquets.

Although money is more than ever a key factor, other elements come into play. Squad stability stemming from good strategic planning, as well as the ability of clubs to get the best out of the talents trained in their youth academies and to stimulate a strong sense of belonging to all parties concerned (players, staff, supporters, etc.), remain crucial success criteria even in the today’s hyper-commercial and globalised environment.

Issue number 275 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post maps the origin of expatriate players in 31 European top divisions. With 466 representatives, Brazilians are the most numerous (10.3% of the total number of expatriates), followed by the French (350 players). However, the latter are the most present in the big-5 European leagues: 115 French players abroad compared to 104 Brazilians.

Footballers who grew up in France represent the largest contingent of expatriates in the Premier League (41 players, 15.7% of total playing time of expats), the Bundesliga (28, 8.0%) and the Liga (25, 13.6%). Brazilians are the most present in the Serie A (33 players, 7.3% of minutes played by all expatriates) and the Ligue 1 (25, 5.4%). Brazil is the most represented origin also in Portugal, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Finland. They are present in all of the countries covered except Scotland.

With 224 representatives in the 31 European top divisions and 67 expatriates in the five major championships, Spain is the third main exporting country. For a more global vision of player international mobility, the Atlas of Migration of the CIES Football Observatory presents additional data on the presence and distribution of expatriates in 147 leagues from 98 countries worldwide.

Dominating opponents does not always lead to success. However, the InStat data analysed in the 274th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post shows that most of the best performing teams are able to maximise their passes in the opponent’s third of the pitch, while minimising the opponent’s passes in their own third. The best ratio overall in the 35 European leagues surveyed was measured for Manchester City.

Guardiola’s team made on average 210 passes per match in the opponent’s third, versus only 59 by the opponents in their own third (ratio of 3.55). This ratio is only 1.9 for Premier League leaders Liverpool (180 passes versus 85). The greatest number of passes in the opponent’s third part of the field was recorded for AFC Ajax (220 per match). The Dutch side has the second best ratio (3.43), ahead of Steven Gerrard’s Rangers Glasgow (3.03).

The worst ratio overall was observed for another Scottish side: Hamilton Academical (0.39). A very negative ratio was also recorded for Newcastle United (0.41). Fulham (1.78) has the most positive ratio in the Championship ahead of Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United (1.58). Nottingham Forest is at the opposite end of the table (0.71). More data is available in the exclusive CIES Football Observatory & InStat Performance Atlas.

Issue number 273 of Weekly Post presents the top 50 transfer values for players currently on loan in big-5 league teams. At the head of the table is Philippe Coutinho. However, the price for the Brazilian as estimated by the CIES Football Observatory algorithm (€96.5M) is lower than the option to buy negotiated between Bayern and Barcelona (€120M).

Four other players on loan have an estimated value greater than €50M: Dani Ceballos, Martin Ödegaard, Harry Wilson and Mauro Icardi. While there is in principle no option to buy for the three former players, Paris St-Germain can sign Mauro Icardi for €70M. This is currently a relatively high fee, but it could be no more the case if the Argentinean goes on playing and scoring as he managed to do in October.

With regard to Stefano Sensi and Duván Zapata, the levels of their options to buy are already significantly lower than the estimated values. Inter and Atalanta will probably not hesitate to exercise them. More information on the exclusive CIES Football Observatory approach to assess on a scientific basis the transfer value of professional footballers is available here.

The 49th Monthly Report of the CIES Football Observatory analyses the demographic characteristics of players from 31 European top division clubs. It notably reveals that the trend towards less stability and a greater international mobility has declined over the past year. While the level of expatriates has reached a new record (41.8%), the increase was less marked than in previous years: +0.2% as opposed to an average of +1.2% between 2014 and 2018.

For the first time since the first census in 2009, the percentage of club-trained players has grown. However, this increase was very limited (+0.2%). It is thus difficult to claim that the tendency towards fewer club-trained footballers has reversed. In the same vein, the halt in the decrease in the average length of stay of players in their club of employment does not necessarily imply a return towards more stability.

From next year onwards, it will be very interesting to monitor if the increasing economic disparities between teams from different countries will push a greater number of clubs with limited means to concentrate on the promotion of locally trained talents. This holds particularly true in Eastern Europe (Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, etc.) and Southern Europe (Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, etc.), where transfer market activity is particularly prevalent. Access the study!

The effective playing time of a football match greatly varies according to league and club. According to the exclusive InStat data on 35 European competitions, during current season, the highest percentage of effective playing time was measured in the Swedish top division (on average 59.7% of minutes per match). At the opposite is the Czech league (50.2%). The data at both league and club level are available in the 272th edition of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post.

The findings reveal great discrepancies per continental area. The higher values recorded in Northern and Western Europe reflect more open styles of play and a greater player discipline. Among the five major European championships, the German Bundesliga (57.1%) has the highest effective playing time, while the Spanish Liga has the lowest (53.3%).

At club level, the record percentage of effective playing time was measured for the matches of the Swedish side GIF Sundvall (63.2%). AZ Alkmaar (62,9%) and Helsingborgs (62,8%) also are in the top three. At the other extreme are three Spanish teams: Alcorcón (45,8%), Getafe (45,9%) and Rayo Vallecano (46,2%). The highest values for big-5 league clubs were recorded for Bayern Munich (62.0%), Olympique Lyonnais (61.5%) and Paris St-Germain (60.7%).

Which teams train the most professional footballers? As every year, the CIES Football Observatory has established the rankings of the best training clubs for players active in the big-5, as well as for footballers in 31 European top divisions. Real Madrid and Partizan Belgrade head the tables. The top 60s are available in issue number 271 of the Weekly Post.

For big-5 league players, Real Madrid (39 footballers trained, +3 compared to last year) outranks Barcelona (34, same number) and Olympique Lyonnais (30, -5). At the level of the 31 top divisions, Partizan Belgrade (75 players trained, +6 with respect to last year) outranks AFC Ajax (72, -5) and Sporting Clube Portugal (63, +5). The top 50s rankings for 2018 are available here.

Following UEFA definition, training clubs are teams where footballers played for at least three seasons between the ages of 15 and 21. The percentage of minutes played by club-trained footballers in all of the teams from the 31 competitions studied is available in the CIES Football Observatory Demographic Atlas. In addition, more exclusive data is regularly published through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

The CIES Football Observatory research team has developed an exclusive approach to measure the experience capital of footballers according to their playing time and the level of matches played. Issue number 270 of the Weekly Post presents the 50 highest figures worldwide for players born in 2000, as well as the top 50 for footballers born in or after 2001.

For players born in 2000, the Englishman Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund) outranks his countryman Ryan Sessegnon (Tottenham) and the Dutchman Kik Pierie (AFC Ajax). The second highest figure outside of the big-5 European leagues was measured for the Danish Mikkel Damsgaard (Nordsjaelland), while that for footballers playing outside of Europe was recorded for the Venezuelan Cristian Casséres (New York Red Bulls).

Rodrygo Goes (Real Madrid) heads the table for players born in or after 2001. The Brazilian prodigy ranks in the top 10 also by considering footballers born in 2000: 8th. The Paraguayan Fernando Cardozo (Boavista) is the second most experienced U19 player, while at third position is a 2002-born footballer: Adam Hložek (Sparta Praha). The youngest player in the lists is the 16-year-old midfielder Daniel Leyva (Seattle Sounders & Tacoma Defiance).

The 48th Monthly Report of the CIES Football Observatory analyses the evolution of the number and characteristics of footballers having played on loan for teams of the five major European championships during the last decade. It shows that clubs from these leagues take more and more players on loan: from 2.62 per club and season between 2009 and 2014, up to 3.09 between 2014 and 2019 (+18%). In 2018/2019, footballers on loan played a record number of minutes in the big-5: 11.5%.

This evolution is notably explained by the tendency of wealthy teams (Manchester City, Chelsea, Juventus, etc.) to put under contract an increasing number of footballers with a sufficient sporting level to play in the major European leagues. This puts other clubs in a greater state of dependency when making up their squads, thus increasing their likelihood to take players on loan.

The study also shows that loans constitute in most of the cases a step towards a definitive departure. Indeed, only 29.6% of footballers lent to big-5 league clubs between 2009/10 and 2018/19 return to their owner team at the end of the loan period. In 27% of the occurrences, they were loaned again, while in the remaining 43.4% of cases they were transferred on a permanent basis to another team.

Regulation makes sense in avoiding the misuse of loan strategies orientated not towards a legitimate sporting logic to develop the potential of a young player on which the loaning team really counts, but rather towards an economic logic that aims to generate profits from the transfer market or a political logic aiming at exercising undue influence on rival clubs. In order to be effective, these measures should be implemented in parallel to the regulation of the questions of buy-back options (recompra) and the multi-ownership of clubs.

The partnership with the football data company InStat allows the CIES Football Observatory to present exclusive analysis on the technical performance of teams from 35 European competitions. Issue number 269 of the Weekly Post highlights domestic league matches during which a team had the highest percentage of ball possession (calculated out of effective playing time). The record figure for current season was measured for Fulham against Millwall on the 21st August: 78.7%.

The loss with the highest possession was recorded for Tottenham against Newcastle: 74.8% on the 25th August (0-1). Apart from Fulham and Tottenham, Shakhtar Donetsk (in two away matches), Paris St-Germain, Celtic FC, Borussia Dortmund, Ludogorets Razgrad, FK Partizan (also in a game away) and RB Salzburg are in the top ten positions of the rankings.

The Weekly Post presents the top 10 possession figures for each of the 35 championships analysed. In addition, the freshly updated CIES & InStat Performance Atlas presents additional data on six key technical indicators referring to defence, possession and attack. By clicking on teams, the tool allows users accessing exclusive statistics for up to the last 10 domestic league matches played. Please contact us for more information about the wide array of possibilities offered by subscribing to InStat.

Issue number 268 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the percentage of domestic league minutes played by footballers signed at the start of the season for all of the big-5 league clubs. Last Champions League finalists, Tottenham (5.0%) and Liverpool (8.3%), as well as Manchester City (7.7%), are among the 14 teams where new recruits played less than one tenth of minutes.

The figures for Manchester United and Chelsea are much higher: 25.8% and 33.6% respectively. Among Champions League participants, only LOSC Lille fielded new signings for a greater percentage of minutes than Chelsea: 42.5%. The highest proportion in the big-5 was measured for Fiorentina (69.5%), a club recently taken over by a new wealthy owner.

The most stable teams are to be found in the Premier League, where new recruits played so far only 15.7% of minutes (maximum 50.4% at Aston Villa). At the opposite end of the table is the Italian Serie A: 29.6% (minimum 5.5% for Atalanta). The averages measured in the other three leagues of the big-5 are 22.7% for Bundesliga, 24.0% for the Liga (maximum 54.3% for Sevilla) and 26.7% for Ligue 1.

Issue number 267 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the exclusive data produced by our partners InStat by ranking Champions League teams according to the average length of the passes achieved in domestic league games so far this season. Past edition semi-finalists Ajax have the lowest figure (15.96 meters), ahead of Paris St-Germain (16.17) and Barcelona (16.56).

At the opposite end of the table are Czech champions Slavia Praha with an average length of 19.82 meters (+24% compared to Ajax). Title holder Liverpool has so far achieved the fourth longest passes among group stage participants: 19.45 meters on average. This figure is significantly higher than for their main Premier League rivals Manchester City (17.39).

The majority of high-profile teams are among those making the shortest passes. Apart from Liverpool, the only recent Champions League finalist with an average length of passes greater than 18 meters is Atlético Madrid. Diego Simeone’s team achieved the third lowest number of passes per game (379), while Lucien Favre’s Borussia Dortmund made the most (735).

For the first time in history, a football club invested more than one billion euro in transfer indemnities to assemble its squad: Manchester City. Following last summer transfer window, two clubs are close to this figure: Paris St-Germain (€913 million) and Real Madrid (€902 million). Issue number 266 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the data for all teams in the big-5.

The gap between the costliest and cheapest squad per league is x148 in the Liga (Real Madrid vs Mallorca), x114 in the Ligue 1 (Paris St-Germain vs Nîmes), x85 in the Bundesliga (Bayern vs Paderborn), x63 in the Serie A (Juventus vs Lecce) and x32 in the Premier League (Manchester City vs Norwich). This reflects the great financial divides in European football.

The average transfer expenditure to sign current squad members per league is €345 M in the Premier League, €167 M in both the Liga and the Serie A, €124 M in the Bundesliga and €118 M in the Ligue 1. More exclusive financial analysis on the big-5 league transfer market is available in the 47th edition of the CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report.

All things being equal, the price of players during the last transfer window went up by 31% compared to the previous year. Since 2014, the annual inflation growth rate on the transfer market for big-5 league footballers has been 26%. With respect to 2011, the same player costs now almost three times more. More exclusive analysis is available in the 47th edition of the CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report.

The amounts at stake on the football players’ transfer market have strongly increased over the past decade. At big-5 league level, the investments in transfer indemnities have grown from €1.5 billion in 2010 to a new record of €6.6 billion in 2019 (+340%). During this period, big-5 league clubs have recorded a cumulative deficit of €8.9 billion. English Premier League clubs alone have a total net negative balance of €6.5 billion, with a record deficit for Manchester City (€1.1 billion).

Despite the increase in spending and a strongly inflationary context, the growing recourse by clubs to payments spread out over several years shows that more and more teams are finding themselves at the limit of their financial capabilities. In an increasingly speculative and uneven environment, a growing number of clubs, even within the most powerful leagues, include the profits made on the transfer market into their financial model. This situation is not without danger for their stability, independence and competitiveness.

Read the Report

Issue number 265 of the Weekly Post presents the 100 players from the five major European leagues with the highest transfer values according to the freshly updated and further improved CIES Football Observatory algorithm. Three forwards are in the top three positions: Kylian Mbappé (€252M), Mohammed Salah (€219M) and Raheem Sterling (€208M).

Apart from strikers, the most expensive footballers per position are Alisson Becker (€107M) for goalkeepers, Trent Alexander-Arnold (€130M) for defenders and Paul Pogba (€125M) for midfielders. Lionel Messi (€167M) heads the rankings for players over 31 years of age, while Cristiano Ronaldo (€118M) tops the table for footballers aged 33 or more.

The CIES Football Observatory algorithm takes into account a wide array of variables such as age, contract, position, minutes, goals, international status, team results, etc. The estimates refer to the value for the most likely recruiting club. The price range for all of the big-5 league players can be accessed for free here. Deeper analysis is available on a consultancy basis.

This new Monthly Report analyses the composition of teams participating in the five of the most developed women’s professional leagues worldwide: four European leagues (Germany, Sweden, France and England), as well as the National Women’s Soccer League in the United States. It reveals that the age of players increases, international mobility grows and the concentration of the best footballers within a limited number of clubs independently of their origin pursues its course.

The average age of players on the pitch has risen from 25.1 years of age in 2017 to 25.5 in 2019. The German Bundesliga is the only championship in which the average age on the pitch has fallen over the last three years. It is now the league fielding the youngest players among those covered by the study: 24.7 years of age (-0.8 since 2017). At the opposite end is the United States National Women’s Soccer League: 27.5 years of age (+1.3 years since 2017).

The percentage of minutes played by expatriates has increased for the third year running reaching a figure of 32.4% (+4.4% in comparison to 2017). The most notable increase was recorded in England (+7.5%), where more and more clubs invest in women’s football through reproducing the same mechanisms already observed in the men’s game. The total number of expatriates in the leagues covered increases year by year: from 300 in 2017, the figure reached 348 in 2018 and 379 in 2019.

Numerous teams play with a majority of footballers with international status. The percentage of minutes played by the latter reaches 99.0% at Bayern Munich and 98.8% at Arsenal. It is greater than 90% in three other teams: Wolfsburg, Manchester City, as well as at the multiple European champions Olympique Lyonnais (94.2%).

Though encouraging, the evolution noted shows the importance of reflecting on regulatory mechanisms to limit the negative effects due to market logics already observed in the men’s game such as, among others, the speculation on young players, the concentration of resources and competitive imbalance.

What is the percentage of points won by champions in the five major European leagues? Issue number 264 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post answers this question for the last twenty seasons. The analysis reveals a progressive increase in the percentage of points achieved by champions.

On average, big-5 league champions obtained 69.9% of points for the five-season period between 1999/2000 and 2003/2004. This percentage went up to 73.9% during the following lustrum, to 77.7% between 2010 and 2014, and again up to 80.5% for the last five seasons. This reflects an ongoing trend towards competitive imbalance.

The record figure overall was registered for Juventus in 2013/14: 89.5% of points. At the other extreme is Olympique Lyonnais in 2002/03: 59.6%. All 2018/19 big-5 league champions achieved at least three quarters of points: from 86.0% for Manchester City (second highest score in the English Premier League history) to 76.3% for Barcelona.

Issue number 263 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the average length of passes by teams from 35 European domestic leagues. The study highlights big discrepancies in playing styles. There are almost 8 meters difference between the teams that executed the longest and shortest passes: Rotherham United (23.42m) and Paris St-Germain (15.85m). 

Many very competitive teams are in the top 25 of the rankings for the shortest passes, including Champions League semi-finalists FC Barcelona (2nd) and AFC Ajax (5th), as well as Europa League finalist Chelsea FC (4th). The vast majority of teams executing the longest passes are in the bottom-half of the table in their respective leagues. Getafe CF is the exception that confirms the rule. 

The analysis per league also reveals the persistence of cultural differences in the approach of the game. Teams from the Scottish Premier League (21.08m) and the English Championship (20.58m) execute on average the longest passes. At the opposite end of the table, we find the French Ligue 1 and the Finnish Veikkausliiga (18.89m in both cases). Data comes from InStat.

For the third year, the CIES Football Observatory analyses the presence of expatriate players in 147 leagues from 98 national associations. Brazil is clearly at the top of the rankings for countries exporting the most footballers (1,330 players), ahead of France (867) and Argentina (820). Alone, these countries export almost a quarter of footballers (22.5%). Overall, the number of expatriates increased by 5.0% compared to 2018.

During last year, the number of expatriates has increased for each of the three principle exporting countries: Brazil (+64 players, +4.8%), France (+37 players, +4.3%) and Argentina (+57 players, +7.0%). The number of Spaniards abroad has also strongly increased (+61 players, +14.3%). This is the second biggest increase in absolute terms after that of the Brazilians.

The most frequented migratory route originates from Brazil and ends in Portugal (261 players). The migration of Argentinians to Chili (116 players) is the second principle axis. Two migratory channels departing from England also involve many footballers: the first ends up in Scotland (113 players), while the second leads to Wales (92 players).

England and Italy are the chief importing countries of footballers. The professional clubs of these countries employ 728 and 636 expatriate players respectively. Without taking into account the 139 citizens of the other UK nations present in England, it is thus in Italy that the greatest number of players imported from abroad are to be found.

The CIES Football Observatory research team is also proud to disclose the brand new Atlas of Migration mapping the international flows of footballers.

Issue number 262 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the three best and worst teams per league in terms of points that they should have achieved according to their pitch production. Virtual points were projected according to a statistical model including shots taken and conceded (both on target and from the box), as well as the percentage of ball possession.

With respect to the indicators selected, Napoli and Atalanta should have achieved more points than the Italian Serie A champions Juventus. However, Massimiliano Allegri’s players were much more efficient. In the Greek top division, both Olympiacos and AEK Athens had a greater pitch production than champions PAOK. Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United tops the production rankings in the English Championship.

According to pitch production, Lucien Favre’s Borussia Dortmund should only have ranked fourth in the German Bundesliga behind Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen. The Ruhr team was thus particularly efficient. In Turkey, ?stanbul Ba?ak?ehir virtually outranks Be?ikta? and Galatasaray. More data is available in the CIES Football Observatory Performance Atlas powered by InStat data.

Issue number 261 of the Weekly Post presents the top 50 list of the U20 players from the big-5 with the highest transfer value according to the CIES Football Observatory algorithm. The English full international Jadon Sancho heads the table with an estimated value of €150M. Borussia Dortmund’s winger outranks Arsenal’s Mattéo Guendouzi (€70M) and AS Roma’s Nicolò Zaniolo (€67M).

Four other big-5 league players born on or after January 1st 1999 have an estimated value greater than €50M: Kai Havertz (Bayer Leverkusen), Declan Rice (West Ham), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan AC) and Vinícius Júnior (Real Madrid). Footballers from 18 national associations feature in the top 50 list. The most represented country is France (13 players), followed by England (9).

The updated transfer valuations for all players from the five major European competitions are available here. In order to keep some more exclusive information, we have henceforth decided to display only price ranges. The latter still refer to the most probable fee for the most likely buyer. Additional services can be provided on a mandate basis.

The 260th edition of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the age at which players fielded during this season in 24 European top divisions were signed by their clubs of employment. Academy graduates are not included in the sample. RB Leipzig recruited its footballers at the youngest age (21.43 years on average), while MKE Ankaragücü signed them at the oldest one (29.28 years).

The second and third lowest values for age at recruitment at big-5 league level were registered for two other teams with a transfer strategy clearly focused on the signing of young talents: Real Madrid (21.95 years on average) and Olympique Lyonnais (22.64 years). Many other very competitive teams are in the top 20 positions of the rankings. At the opposite end of the table is Parma (27.35 years).

CSKA Moskva is the club from the 19 further European top divisions surveyed that signed its squad members at the youngest age: 21.9 years on average. The Russian side outranks the club having fielded so far the youngest footballers in domestic league games during current season: FC Nordsjælland (see Demographic Atlas). At third position is RB Salzburg, ahead of five Dutch and two Belgian teams.

Marcelo Guedes (Olympique Lyonnais) heads the big-5 league rankings of players having won the highest percentage of defensive air challenges in domestic league matches this season: 136 out of 159 (85.5%). The Brazilian outranks three English Premier League players: Harry Maguire, Virgil van Dijk and Shane Duffy. The top 50s for the big-5 and 26 other European competitions are available in issue number 259 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post.

The top ranked players for the remaining big-5 European leagues are Dimitrios Siovas (CD Leganés), 37-year-old Bruno Alves (Parma) and Mats Hummels (Bayern). Three other world champions are in the top 50 table: the Spaniards Gerard Piqué and Sergio Ramos, as well as the French Raphaël Varane. Only footballers with at least 80 challenges according to the statistics provided by our partners InStat were included in the analysis.

Heart of Midlothian’s centre back Christophe Berra heads the table for players in the other 26 competitions surveyed. The Scottish won 233 of his 268 defensive aerial challenges: 86.9%. He outranks three other central defenders: Felipe Augusto (FC Porto), Jake Cooper (Millwall) and the captain of the French Ligue 2 club of Clermont Foot Julien Laporte. The top ranked full back is the Dutch full international Denzel Dumfries (PSV Eindhoven).

The 44th Monthly Report of the CIES Football Observatory analyses match attendances in 51 national football leagues from 42 countries. Germany appears as the footballing country par excellence. Although also very popular, English and Spanish clubs have considerably less spectators than German teams. Outside of Europe, Mexican clubs attract the biggest crowds.

The study of the changes since 2003 reveals the growing enthusiasm for football in the United States and Canada. Despite the increase in the number of teams participating in the MLS, average attendances have consistently increased to break the 20,000-spectator threshold over the past five years. This limit has also been broken in China, where football’s popularity is henceforth also well established.

With over 80,000 spectators per match, Borussia Dortmund is top of the rankings for attendance by club. The Ruhr team is ahead of four football giants: Manchester United, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. Five German clubs are in the top ten rankings (the two already cited, Schalke 04, Hamburg and Stuttgart). Atlanta United is the most popular non-European club (10th in total).

Issue number 258 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks 27 top division leagues of UEFA member countries according to the percentage of goals scored during the current season by expatriate footballers. At the top of the table is Cyprus (86.7% of foreign goals), ahead of Turkey (80.7%) and England (68.8%).

In nine other leagues, foreign goals accounted for more than half of total goals. At the opposite end of the table, expatriate players scored less than one third of goals in four countries only: Ukraine (25.5%), Serbia (27.6%), Israel (27.9%) and the Czech Republic (30.4%). The lowest percentage at big-5 league level was measured in the French Ligue 1 (35.6%).

Big discrepancies also exist at club level. The figures vary from 0% (Paksi FC, EA Guingamp, Athletic Club Bilbao, etc.) to 100% (AEK Larnaca, Rizespor, FK Senica). In the English Premier League, they go from 97.4% at Wolverhampton to 20.5% at Leicester City. More data on the composition of squads is available in the exclusive CIES Football Observatory Demographic Atlas.

Issue number 257 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the players with the highest estimated transfer value per big-5 league club. The potentially most expensive player overall, Kylian Mbappé (€228 million), represents 25.9% of the total squad value of Paris St-Germain. A similar percentage was measured for Jadon Sancho (€148 million, 24.9%) at Borussia Dortmund.

Despite his age, Lionel Messi remains the most valuable FC Barcelona’s player: €171 million. The Argentinean is the oldest footballer among those with the highest transfer value out of all big-5 league clubs. At Juventus, 34-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo (€125 million) is only outranked by Paulo Dybala (€142 million).

Eden Hazard (€121 million) is the most expensive Chelsea FC’s squad member. The Belgian also has the highest transfer value among footballers with only one year of contract remaining, ahead of Timo Werner (€70 million). The German striker is the most valuable RB Leipzig’s player. If they do not extend their contract, both footballers will probably be transferred during the next transfer window.

The CIES Football Observatory has developed an exclusive approach to measure the technical performance of players on an objective basis using data provided by OptaPro. Issue number 256 of the Weekly Post presents the best performing big-5 league footballers for last 1,000 minutes played. The rankings only include players fielded for at least 630 minutes since January 1st 2019.

Four Atalanta players are in the best XI for Serie A: Timothy Castagne, Josip Ili?i?, Papu Gómez and Duván Zapata. The only Juventus player fielded for at least 630 domestic league minutes in 2019 is also present in the best formation: Daniele Rugani. Five Barcelona footballers figure in the Liga’s best XI, including Lionel Messi.

The most represented teams in the remaining leagues are Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga (four players), Manchester City in the Premier League (five players) and Paris St-Germain in the Ligue 1 (six players). The youngest footballers per league are Gianluigi Donnarumma, Sergio Reguilón, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Kylian Mbappé.

Issue number 255 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks big-5 league teams according to the ratio between fouls suffered and committed during the current season using data from OptaPro. FC Barcelona players suffered the most fouls with respect to those committed (1.5 times). At the opposite end is Brighton & Hove with a ratio of 0.68.

The highest number of fouls committed per match was measured for Getafe (17.1). In the other leagues, the top values were recorded for Torino (16.8), Dijon (15.8), Augsburg (14.2) and Brighton & Hove (12.8). Conversely, Borussia Dortmund players have on average committed the least fouls per game (8.4). In the other championships of the big-5, the lowest figures were observed for Manchester City (8.5), Barcelona (10.5), Napoli (10.7) and Nice (11.2).

The average number of fouls per fixture varies between 20.9 in the Premier League and 27.0 in the Liga. This strong gap partially reflects the existence of different styles of refereeing. In the remaining leagues, these values are 24.0 in Bundesliga, 26.4 in Ligue 1 and 26.6 in Serie A. Among players fielded for at least 1,000 domestic league minutes, Moussa Doumbia (Reims), Amine Harit (Schalke 04) and Borja García (Girona) are those fouled most often.

The 43rd Monthly Report of the CIES Football Observatory analyses the evolution of the origin of players fielded over the past ten years in the English Premier League. It shows that the playing time of footballers having grown up in England has progressively fallen to reach a new negative record level over the current season: 35.2%. A similar trend was observed for goals scored: 30.7%.

On the contrary, the proportion of continental Europeans has steadily increased throughout the decade analysed. New records have been measured during the current season both at the level of the percentage of minutes (45.0%) and at the level of goals scored (43.3%). Since the 2017/18 season, continental European nationals are more numerous on Premier League pitches than UK players. 

Within the context of Brexit, a possible limit on the scope of international recruitment may oblige the majority of Premier League teams to modify their transfer strategies. However, the rise of a new generation of very promising Englishmen suggests that, on strictly sporting terms, such a change may not negatively affect the competitiveness of Premier League teams. It could even strengthen the English national team.

Issue number 254 of the CIES Football Weekly Post investigates InStat data to present the 20 clubs with the highest and lowest percentages of shots on target both in the five major European leagues and in 25 other domestic championships. The figures vary from 48.6% (Manchester United) and 28.9% (Cagliari) in the big-5, as well as from 50.4% (Ajax) and 31.7% (four different clubs) in the other competitions surveyed.

The study also presents the average distance of all shots attempted. The lowest values for clubs ranked in the top 20 tables were recorded for Bayern Munich (15.8 meters) in the five major European leagues and for the Dutch side PSV Eindhoven (also 15.8 meters) at the level of the remaining 25 leagues surveyed. Generally speaking, the higher the percentage of shots on target, the lower the distance from which they are taken.

The average percentage of shots on target for all clubs in the leagues studied is 37.6% (from 41.2% in the Dutch Eredivisie to 35.0% in the Russian Premier League), while the general shot distance is 18.5 meters (from 17.4 meters in the English Premier League to 19.5 meters in the Serbian Super Liga). More pitch statistics at club level are available in the freshly updated CIES Football Observatory Performance Atlas.

Weekly Post number 253 presents the aggregated transfer value of big-5 league clubs. According to the algorithm exclusively developed by the CIES Football Observatory, the estimated value of the squad of five teams is over one billion euro. Four of them are from the Premier League, which reflects the financial power of the English top division. Barcelona is the best-ranked non-English team.

The total transfer value of Manchester City players is almost €1.5 billion. This figure is one time and a half higher than the transfer fees spent to assemble the squad. However, this capital gain is only hypothetical insofar a team like Manchester City wants to win trophies rather than releasing its best footballers. In addition, within the current inflationary context, possible replacements are far more expensive than their predecessors.

The squad transfer value of four teams in the top 40 positions of the table is more than three times greater than the sums spent in transfer indemnities to recruit current players: Olympique Lyonnais (15th, x3.3), Real Sociedad (31st, x3.4), LOSC Lille (37th, x3.2) and Real Betis (38th, x3.1). Well-established in the top division league of their country of belonging, these clubs have an equally well-established business model relying on the promotion of talents. The estimates for all big-5 league players are available on the CIES Football Observatory website.

Issue number 252 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post relies on OptaPro data to rank big-5 league footballers according to the number of domestic league minutes played per successful dribble over the last 365 days. Lionel Messi heads the rankings with a dribble achieved every 19.2 minutes, ahead of Allan Saint-Maximin (19.8) and Eden Hazard (21.0). The analysis only includes footballers who played at least 1,800 minutes (1,500 for current Bundesliga players).

Five players who grew up in France are in the top 8 positions: Allan Saint-Maximin, Naïm Sliti, Ousmane Dembélé, Marcus Thuram and Jeff Reine-Adelaide. The young English prodigy Jadon Sancho is the best-ranked player of those currently playing in the Bundesliga ahead of Ihlas Bebou and teammate Achraf Hakimi. Paulo Dybala heads the rankings for Serie A footballers ahead of Rodrigo de Paul and Federico Chiesa.

The Belgium and Chelsea striker Eden Hazard has the best success rate among players who attempted at least 100 dribbles during the period considered (73%). Three other players had a success rate of more than 70%: Naïm Sliti, Marcus Thuram and Éver Banega. At the opposite end of the table are Roberto Pereyra (43%), Fabián Orellana (44%) and Joshua King (also 44%). This unique tool exclusively developed by the CIES Football Observatory allows you to compare the technical profile of big-5 league footballers.

Issue number 251 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights the 20 most experienced young players from 22 European competitions per year of birth. The rankings were elaborated using an exclusive methodology weighting domestic league minutes played by footballers during the last two years according to the sporting strength of employer teams.

St-Étienne’s centre back William Saliba tops the table for players born in or after 2001. He outranks another French centre back, Benoît Badiashile (Monaco), and the Spaniard Bryan Gil (Sevilla). Two English players head the rankings for players born in 2000: Ryan Sessegnon (Fulham) and Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund). Heerenveen’s talent Kik Pierie ranks third ahead of Real Madrid’s rising star Vinícius.

Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan) is clearly at the top of the 1999-born players. He outranks the Dutch prodigy Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax) and another goalkeeper: Alban Lafont (Fiorentina). World champions Kylian Mbappé (Paris St-Germain) heads the table for players born in 1998, ahead of compatriot Houssem Aouar (Olympique Lyonnais) and Liverpool’s full back Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The CIES Football Observatory celebrates the 250th edition of its Weekly Post with an exclusive analysis on the contribution of clubs in training the players fielded in big-5 league matches during the last five years. Training clubs are those where players have been for at least three seasons between the ages of 15 and 21. The rankings are elaborated by summing minutes played in the big-5 since January 1st 2014 by all of the footballers trained per club.

Barcelona tops the table with 69 footballers trained fielded in the big-5 by 55 different teams for a total of 319,224 minutes. Behind the Catalans are their great rivals Real Madrid: 69 footballers trained, 44 different clubs, 304,052 minutes. In the top ten positions are six Spanish, three French and one English team (Manchester United). According to the definition used, Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Pogba are Manchester United club-trained players.

The best-ranked clubs for the remaining big-5 leagues are Olympique Lyonnais, VfB Stuttgart and AS Roma. The greatest contributors outside of the countries hosting the five major European competitions are River Plate, Sporting Clube, Boca Juniors, Ajax and Feyenoord. In total, 1,370 teams have trained players fielded in the big-5 during the last five years. More information is available on request at football.observatory@cies.ch.

The 42th Monthly Report of the CIES Football Observatory analyses the evolution of the competitive balance in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League since the introduction of the current format in 2003/04. The study illustrates a clear trend towards less balance and more predictability. Changes in the competition format and the redistribution of resources are needed to preserve a sufficient level of sporting and economic balance.

The analysis of the distribution of points at the end of the group stages shows that teams at the top of the table have progressively obtained more points and significantly improved their goal difference. The opposite trend was observed for teams at the bottom of the group. The average goal difference in group stage matches also increased. This is notably linked to the growth of fixtures which concluded with at least a three goal difference: from 16.9% during the first four seasons analysed to a new record of 22.9% between 2015 and 2018.

The study also reveals the greater predictability of matches. The percentage of fixtures where teams that are clear favourites according to odds on the betting market go on to win went clearly up: 81.4% of wins at home between 2014 and 2018 (+5.3% in comparison to 2004-2008) and 74.6% away (+12.1%). A good compromise to preserve the interest of the Champions League over the long term would consist of reducing the number of participants in the group stage, while keeping an open system of competition and guaranteeing a greater percentage of revenue to those excluded.

Solidarity could operate through a meritocratic basis by keeping aside part of the revenues for all of the teams having participated in the training of players fielded. Such a redistributive mechanism would have the great merit of recognising the fundamental role played by a multitude of clubs in developing the players who guarantee the high quality spectacle that the major teams produce and from which they derive benefit. Go to the study here.

Who are the footballers having played the most minutes in the big-5 leagues during the last five years? This is the question answered in issue number 249 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post. Samir Handanovi? (Inter) tops the table for goalkeepers, while César Azpilicueta (Chelsea) heads the rankings for outfield players.

Only ten goalkeepers in the top 25 list have been in the same club during the last five years. This is the same proportion as that observed among outfield footballers. Conversely, Joe Hart played for four different big-5 league teams over this period: Manchester City, Torino, West Ham and Burnley. Only five forwards are in the top 25 list: Lionel Messi, José Callejón, Romelu Lukaku, Luis Suárez and Antoine Griezmann.

The most fielded players at German Bundesliga level, where there are fewer matches as only 18 teams are competing, are Daniel Baier (13,477 minutes for Augsburg) and Oliver Baumann (15,210 minutes for Freiburg and Hoffenheim).

No team in the 35 European competitions surveyed needed as few shots to score as Paris St-Germain. The French side scored so far every 4.7 shots. According to the exclusive InStat data, this ratio was inferior to five for another big-5 league club only: Borussia Dortmund. The top three per league is available in issue number 248 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post.

The most efficient teams in the three remaining leagues of the big-5 are Barcelona (5.4 shots per goal), Arsenal (5.8) and Sampdoria (5.9). The highest figure among teams from the five major European leagues was recorded for Huddersfield Town: 17.3 shots per goal. The Premier League club must absolutely improve this statistics to avoid relegation.

The most efficient team outside of the big-5 are the Swiss of BSC Young Boys (4.8), ahead of FC Midtjylland and PSV Eindhoven. On the contrary, Apollon Smyrnis (25.1), Hapoel Tel Aviv (21.1) and Arsenal Kyiv (20.7) were so far particularly inefficient. More data is available in the CIES Football Observatory Performance Atlas, as well as on demand.

Issue number 247 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents big-5 league players whose current estimated value exceeds the most the fee paid by recruiting teams during last summer. Rodri Hernández (+€45 million) tops the table for fee-paying transfers ahead of Lucas Torreira (+€44m), while Emre Can (+€45m) heads the rankings for free agents ahead of Stefan de Vrij (+€39m).

Juventus and Liverpool are the only teams with three recruits in the top 20 tables: Emre Can, Cristiano Ronaldo and João Cancelo for the former club, as well as Xherdan Shaqiri, Alisson Becker and Fabinho Tavares for the latter one. The excellent performances of both these players and their employer teams explain in large part the magnitude of the gap observed.

Seven other clubs have more than one representative in the top 20 lists: Inter Milan (de Vrij and Asamoah), Napoli (Younes and Ruiz), Real Betis (López and Canales), LOSC Lille (Bamba and Ikoné), Everton (Bernard and Richarlison), West Ham (Wilshere and Anderson) and Arsenal (Torreira and Guendouzi). Current values were estimated using the exclusive CIES Football Observatory algorithm.

The 41st CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report analyses the link between ball possession and results in 35 European leagues. While this link is undeniable, it is only from a certain level that ball control allows teams to improve significantly their results. This is probably the source of the erroneous but widespread idea that possession is not a key factor for success.

The 70 champions of the last two seasons in the 35 leagues analysed had an average possession of 57% during their winning season. Only 10% of champions won their league with a ball possession of less than 50%: Spartak Trnava, RC Strasbourg, Stade de Reims, AIK Solna, FC Midtjylland, Spal 2013 and CFR Cluj. None of the 70 champions completed fewer passes in the attacking third of the pitch than their opponents during the title winning season.

The analysis at match level for all the possession indicators taken into account shows that a team can sometimes accept an opponent’s domination, especially when they are winning. However, this is not a successful strategy in the longer term as it implies too many risks of conceding the first goal without being then able to put sufficient pressure on opponents. The data used were generated by the specialist sports company InStat. More information is available on demand.

Issue number 246 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the pitch production of big-5 league clubs during the first part of the current season to highlight if they have over- or under-performed in terms of points achieved. The findings suggest that Manchester City will finally beat Liverpool in the English Premier League title race.

Manchester City achieved so far 5% of points per match less than expected according to its pitch production. Conversely, Liverpool obtained 15% more and its results are supposed to decline in the second part of the season. The over- or under-performance were calculated according to a regression model built on the 2016/17 and 2017/18 seasons including shots on target, ball possession and shots conceded from the box. The data comes from the specialist company InStat.

In the other big-5 leagues, the pitch production of three out of four teams at the top of the table should allow them to lift the trophy: Barcelona in Spain, Juventus in Italy and Paris St-Germain in France. However, in Germany, the analysis suggests that Bayern Munich will finally outrank the current leader Borussia Dortmund. The data for 27 further European competitions are available on demand. More data is also accessible in the exclusive CIES Football Observatory Performance Atlas.

The first Weekly Post of the year presents the 100 big-5 league players with the highest transfer value according to the exclusive CIES Football Observatory algorithm. The 20-year-old French prodigy Kylian Mbappé (€218.5 million) tops the list ahead of Harry Kane (€200.3m) and Neymar (€197.1m).

Among the 27 footballers with an estimated value of more than €100m, sixteen play in the Premier League, five in the Liga, three in the Serie A, two in the Ligue 1 and one in the Bundesliga. Eleven nations have representatives with an estimated value of more than €100m: Brazil (6 players), England (5), France (5), Argentina (2), Portugal (2), Belgium (2), Egypt (1), Germany (1), Senegal (1), Uruguay (1) and Italy (1).

The transfer values for all big-5 league players are available online. A research note explaining the methodology used by the CIES Football Observatory and the criteria included in the algorithm is accessible here. Please contact us for more information and consultancies.

The last CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post of the year 2018 highlights players whose teams have achieved the most or least points per match when they were in the starting 11 than when this was not the case. The most positive gap in absolute was recorded for Christophe Jallet (OGC Nice): 7 wins out of the 7 matches that he started compared to only 0.44 points per match for the remaining games.

In the other big-5 leagues, the most positive gaps for players who have been present or absent at least five times in the starting 11 were recorded for Diogo Jota (Wolverhampton), Rubén Rochina (Levante), Andreas Beck (Stuttgart) and Goran Pandev (Genoa). Pedro Rodríguez and Ross Barkley were so far also lucky carriers for Chelsea: 100% of points for matches started in both cases.

Conversely, the most negative gaps per championship were registered for Massimo Gobbi (Parma), Gerard Gumbau (Leganés), Denis Zakaria (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Anthony Knockaert (Brighton & Hove) and Olivier Boscagli (OGC Nice). However, it is useful to remind that these results are in part a random fact.

The CIES Football Observatory is pleased to announce the launch of a parallel research group within the Centre International d’Étude du Sport (CIES). Led by Fernando Roitman, this new team focuses on aspects of sports governance, finance, legal and development.

The freshly published ‘Governance Structures at National Association Level’ report focuses on a selection of 20 countries from all six confederations and provides insight into one of the crucial aspects of world football. The study analyses five main areas: General Assembly (GA), Executive Committee (ExCo), President, judicial bodies and reporting activities. As findings are standardised in their form, the document allows benchmarking between individual case studies and the identification of potential trends across different regions of the world.

If you would like to be informed about CIES Sports Intelligence activities and next reports please subscribe to the dedicated newsletter. Furthermore, you can follow CIES Sports Intelligence on LinkedIn and Twitter to keep up to date with daily analyses on relevant sporting topics.

Issue number 243 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the top 20 tables for big-5 league players whose transfer values have increased the most during the last three months both in absolute and relative terms. At the head of the two rankings is the fresh English full international and Borussia Dortmund player Jadon Sancho: +€78 million and +806%.

Apart from Sancho, four players have seen their transfer value increase by more than €30M: João Cancelo (Juventus), Andrew Robertson (Liverpool), Richarlison (Everton) and Thilo Kehrer (Paris St-Germain). Many hot prospects are in the top 20 list of players whose value has risen the most in relative terms. The highest figures per league were recorded for Jadon Sancho in Germany, Moise Kean in Italy, Stanley N’Soki in France, Isaac Success in England and Júnior Firpo in Spain.

This analysis was performed using the exclusive CIES Football Observatory algorithm. A detailed explanation of the approach developed is available in this research note. The transfer value of all big-5 league players is freely accessible on the CIES Football Observatory website. The figures published refer to the estimated price for the most likely recruiting club. Moreover, a calculator was developed to allow users assessing the transfer value of players worldwide. However, this tool only provides rough estimates. Deeper analysis is available on demand.

The 40th Monthly Report of the CIES Football Observatory analyses the evolution of competitive balance in 24 European leagues over the last 10 seasons. The study reveals a clear trend towards a greater imbalance. The level of imbalance is particularly marked and on the increase in the big-5 leagues and the Champions League, where the economic divides between teams are very strong.

In 2017/18, big-5 league champions achieved a record of 83.3% of points. This proportion is 10% greater than that measured in 2008/09. Over the ten seasons studied, the biggest average goal difference per match was measured for the UEFA Champions League: 1.58 goals. The premier competition of European football is also that presenting the highest proportion of matches with a goal gap of at least three: 21.0%.

According to the Report, “the concentration of resources goes hand in hand with the concentration of talents. Many teams and leagues are confined to a stepping-stone role for up and coming players. This permits the generation of profits on the transfer market. However, the financial compensations from these transactions are not sufficient to halt the increasing competitive imbalance. The present situation favours the wealthiest clubs. Each day, they increase their sporting, economic and political domination”.

Issue number 242 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post relies on InStat data to present the average effective time of games in 37 European competitions. The Swedish Allsvenskan is the league with the most fluid matches (60.4% of effective time), just ahead the UEFA Champions League (60.2%). The Portuguese Primeira Liga finds itself in the opposite position (50.9%).

The highest effective playing time among the five major European leagues was recorded for the German Bundesliga (58.5%), while the lowest was measured for the Spanish Liga (55.8%). As for the Champions League, Europa League games are more fluid than the average observed at the level of the 35 competitions surveyed: 57.1% of effective time compared to 55.3%.

The highest percentage of minutes in which the ball was in play for clubs in national competitions was recorded for matches of the Swedish side GIF Sundsvall (63.7%). This is 18% more than for games of the Portuguese team Feirense. Club Brugge tops the Champions League table (66.2%), while Borussia Mönchengladbach (62.5%), Liverpool (62.2%), Milan AC (61.2%), Barcelona (60.3%) and Paris St-Germain (60.1%) present the greatest figures for the big-5 leagues.

See also the exclusive CIES Football Observatory Performance Atlas

Issue number 241 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks countries according to the number of domestic league minutes played by their representatives in the big-5. The French (=players who grew up in France) top the rankings (19.7% of total minutes) ahead of the Spaniards (15.2%) and the Germans (9.8%). Overall, players originating from 85 countries have taken part in big-5 league matches so far this season.

In each league surveyed, the highest percentage of minutes per origin was measured for nationals. Nevertheless, the gaps are quite marked: from 62.7% in the French League 1 to only 35.3% in the English Premier League. The figures in the remaining championships are 39.0% in the Italian Serie A, 48.5% in the German Bundesliga and 61.0% in the Spanish Liga.

The greatest values for players originating from abroad were recorded for the French in England (10.9%) and Germany (8.0%), the Brazilians in Italy (7.0%) and France (6.8%), as well as for the Argentineans in Spain (also 6.8%). The English Premier League hosts the representatives from the most countries (54). This figure is 50 in the Serie A, 46 in the Ligue 1, 45 in the Bundesliga and only 40 in the Liga.

A brand new Performance Atlas was launched today on the CIES Football Observatory’s website. Powered with data from the leading company InStat, this unique tool presents exclusive pitch statistics at team level for 35 national competitions across Europe: 30 top division and 5 second division ones. The indicators cover all of the three key areas of the game: defence, passing and attack.

At defensive level, Dinamo Zagreb conceded the least shots on target per domestic league game so far this season (1.6). No club surveyed conceded as few passes in the own third of the pitch as Shakhtar Donetsk (40.8). From an attacking standpoint, the highest figures for shots on target and passes in the opponent third per match were recorded for AFC Ajax (9.1) and Manchester City (206).

At passing level, Chelsea FC tops the table for the percentage of accurate passes (89.9%), while Shakhtar Donetsk ranks first with regard to ball possession (67.0%). The tool also presents the data for the least performing teams. To know more about both the CIES Football Observatory and InStat, please contact us.

Issue number 240 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the ten most fielded U21 players in the big-5 leagues and Portuguese top division. Until last Friday, eleven U21 footballers had played the totality of domestic league minutes. Among them notably are hot prospects such as Rúben Neves, Jules Koundé, Arne Maier, Nikola Milenkovi? and Rúben Dias.

Up to six goalkeepers are to be found in the top 10 rankings: Emil Audero (Sampdoria), Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan), Paul Bernardoni (Nîmes Olympique), Florian Müller (Mainz), Alban Lafont (Fiorentina) and Unai Simón (Athletic Club). With four representatives, FSV Mainz is the most represented club overall: Aarón Martín, Jean-Philippe Mateta, Florian Müller and Ridle Baku.

Overall, footballers born on or after 1st of January 1997 have played 15.4% of total domestic league minutes in the French Ligue 1, 14.7% in the German Bundesliga, 9.8% in the Italian Serie A, 6.1% in the Spanish Liga, 5.3% in the English Premier League and a mere 5.0% in the Portuguese Primeira Liga. The average age on the pitch per league and club is available in the CIES Football Observatory Demographic Atlas.

The long-term work carried out within the CIES Football Observatory focuses, in particular, on the demographic analysis of the football players’ labour market. The surveys carried out over the past decade allow us to reveal very clear trends. As illustrated in Monthly Report number 39, the footballers’ labour market in Europe is becoming deterritorialised by a decreasing presence of club-trained players, a stronger presence of expatriate footballers and greater mobility.

The percentage of club-trained players in the 31 European divisions surveyed reached a new record low on the 1st of October 2018: 16.9% (-6.3% in ten years). The decrease observed during the last year has been the greatest ever recorded (-1.6%). In parallel, the proportion of expatriates has increased to a record level of 41.5% (+6.8% in ten years). The process of internationalisation of squads has accelerated: from an annual growth of 0.55% between 2009 and 2013 to an average increase of 1.17% between 2014 and 2018.

In the conclusion, the authors state that “more and more teams are geared towards the short-term. In an increasingly segmented and speculative context, club officials tend to optimise financial returns on the transfer market to the detriment of more eminently sporting considerations. The increasing instability that results limits the sporting competitiveness of an ever greater number of teams, to the advantage of the wealthiest and better structured clubs, who increasingly dominate the proceedings”.

Every month, the CIES Football Observatory updates the transfer valuations of big-5 league players using its exclusive algorithm. Issue number 239 of the Weekly Post presents the top 10 list for each position. The highest figure overall was recorded for Kylian Mbappé (€216.5m). Ederson, Umtiti, Alexander-Arnold and Alli top their position’s rankings.

The transfer value of Kylian Mbappé increased by €23m compared to October. This allowed the French prodigy to outrank Harry Kane (€197.3m). The Englishman is now second ahead of Neymar, Mohammed Salah and Philippe Coutinho. Ageing Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are now valued at €170.6m and €123.6m respectively.

This research note explains the CIES Football Observatory approach to predict from a scientific perspective the transfer value of professional players. Football stakeholders have increasingly recourse to our unique expertise for different purposes from decision-making to litigation. Do not hesitate to contact us for more information.

Issue number 238 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights clubs having trained the most players currently present in 31 European top divisions and the big-5 leagues respectively. The highest figures were recorded for AFC Ajax for players in the 31 top divisions (77) and Real Madrid for footballers in the big-5 (36).

Compared to 2017, Dynamo Kiev went up from 7th to 2nd place at European level (+ 15 players), reaching Partizan Belgrade (+10). The number of players trained by AFC Ajax also increased (+ 7). At big-5 league level, the top three remained the same. However, Olympique Lyonnais went up from 3rd to 2nd position (35 players, + 4), approaching Real Madrid (36, -4) and outranking Barcelona (34, =).

Following UEFA definition, training clubs are teams where footballers played for at least three seasons between 15 and 21 years. The percentage of minutes played by club-trained footballers in all of the teams from the 31 competitions studied is available in the exclusive CIES Football Observatory Demographic Atlas. More exclusive data is published through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

The CIES Football Observatory has developed an exclusive approach to assess the performance of players using the statistics produced by the leading data company OptaPro. Issue number 237 of the Weekly Post presents big-5 league footballers with the highest scores for the last 1,000 domestic league minutes played.

Aymeric Laporte heads the table in the area of rigour (duels), while Étienne Capoue ranks first for recovery (interceptions). Jorginho has the highest score in distribution and Cristiano Ronaldo in shooting. Neymar is at the top in two different tables: take on (dribbles) and chance creation (assists). According to the CIES Football Observatory approach, the Brazilian star is also the big-5 league MVP for the period considered.

At the head of the tables for footballers who played for less than 450 domestic league minutes during current season are Nicolás Otamendi (rigour), Milan Badelj (recovery), Marco Verratti (distribution), Douglas Costa (take on), Kevin de Bruyne (chance creation and MVP), as well as Konstantinos Mitroglou (shooting). More data is available in the exclusive player profile comparator.

Only three clubs in Europe have fielded this season players who have been in the first team squad since more than five years on average: Real Madrid (5.84 years), Barcelona (5.36) and Bayern Munich (5.26). Issue number 236 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post also reveals that another Champions League participant, Viktoria Plze?, is the most stable club outside of the big-5 (4.28 years).

The majority of teams with the highest stability figures are among the most competitive teams in their respective leagues. The opposite holds true for the least stable clubs. The lowest stability levels were recorded for the Croatian team Istra (0.15 years) among the 31 top divisions surveyed and for the Italian side Parma (0.65 years) at big-5 league level.

The data for all teams in the competitions analysed is available in the exclusive CIES Football Observatory Demographic Atlas. Monthly Reports number 34 and number 38 discuss from multiple angles the link between stability and success. More analysis is also presented on a daily basis from our Twitter account. Follow us!

The CIES Football Observatory just published its 38th Monthly Report. The study analyses club strategies in the area of player turnover for the five major European leagues since 2005/06. It reveals that too many changes in line-ups do not constitute a good strategy for optimising results. On the contrary, high turnover levels tend to affect players’ confidence and aggravate the situation.

Seventeen of the twenty teams whose 11 most fielded footballers played for the least percentage of minutes relegated. This is a clear reflection of the real danger faced by clubs of finding themselves trapped in a vicious circle of poor results and instability, and vice versa. The existence of a negative correlation between turnover and points per match confirms the relevance of sticking with a core group of footballers to optimise performance.

The only team in the period studied that fielded less than 20 players over a season was Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2014/15. This did not prevent them from finishing in an excellent third place. That season, the team coached by Lucien Favre also participated in the Europa League, where it reached the last 16. While the achievement of good results reduces the incentives for player turnover, the Report shows that low player turnover in turn favours good results.

Issue number 235 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights teams having fielded the youngest and oldest line-ups in domestic league games so far this season (or since 1st of July for summer leagues). The extreme values at big-5 league level were recorded for two Italian teams: Fiorentina (23.79 years) and Chievo (29.53 years).

Danish side Nordsjaelland fielded the youngest line-ups for the 31 European top division leagues surveyed: 21.36 years on average. Two clubs from the youngest competition analysed, Croatia, rank second and third: NK Rudeš and NK Istra 1961. Four Turkish and three Cypriot teams are among the ten clubs having fielded the oldest line-ups. The highest figure overall was recorded for Europa League participants Apollon Limassol (30.93 years).

The data for all teams from the 31 top divisions studied are available for free in the exclusive CIES Football Observatory Demographic Atlas. This unique tool also presents the on-the-pitch figures for club-trained, expatriates, stability, turnover and height. Enjoy!

Issue number 234 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks clubs across Europe according to the number of minutes per shot attempted. The following teams head the table in the five major European leagues: Manchester City, Juventus, Olympique Lyonnais, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Slavia Praha tops the rankings outside of the big-5.

So far this season, Manchester City players only needed 4’02” to take a shot. At the opposite end of the table, Huddersfield Town is the Premier League team needing the most minutes to shot: 12’08”. The highest figure overall in the 35 competitions surveyed was recorded for Hamilton Academical (Scotland): 18’12”.

The biggest gap within the same league was observed in Greece: from 5’00” for Olympiacos up to 18’07” for Panetolikos. Data used comes from OptaPro for the big-5 leagues and the English Championship and InStat for the remaining competitions. More information is published from our Twitter account or available on demand at football.observatory@cies.ch.

Manchester City has spent almost €1 billion in transfer indemnities to sign its present squad members (add-ons included). This is the highest figure ever measured for a football team. Issue number 233 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the data for all of the big-5 league teams.

Seven English Premier League teams are in the 11 top positions of the table. The biggest increase compared to last year was measured for Liverpool (from €437M to €704M). The Spanish giants (Barcelona and Real Madrid), Juventus and Paris St-Germain (2nd overall) are the only non-English teams in the top 11. The best-ranked German Bundesliga club, Bayern Munich, is 12th.

Total transfer expenditure to make up the squad for clubs from the five major European leagues went constantly up during the last decade. In 2010, a big-5 league had spent on average €67M to sign its squad members. In 2018, this figure reached a new record high of €161M. During the same period, the amounts invested to assemble the squad by English Premier League clubs went up from €126M to €326M.

The first CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post of the 2018/19 season assesses from an economic perspective paid transfers having taken place during last summer. It highlights that Thibault Courtois went to Real Madrid for a much lower amount than the estimated fair price (-€23 M). Conversely, Chelsea FC paid over the odds to recruit his substitute: Kepa Arrizabalaga (+€45 M).

The fair price corresponds to the average between the estimated cost for the most likely buyer before the transfer and the current transfer value. Both figures were calculated using the exclusive CIES Football Observatory algorithm. The correlation between fees estimated and reported for players transferred for money from big-5 league teams during last transfer window was 75%.

Rodri Hernández, Bryan Cristante, Fabinho Tavares and Clément Lenglet are alongside Thibaut Courtois in the top five for the best operations from an engaging club perspective. For Rodri and Lenglet, the existence of a release clause helped recruiting teams to sign them at a favourable price. As for Kepa Arrizabalaga, the CIES Football Observatory analysis reveals that releasing teams negotiated very well the transfers of Riyad Mahrez, Thilo Kehrer, Yerry Mina and Alex Meret.

The CIES Football Observatory opens its 2018/19 season with the publication of the 37th Monthly Report. The study analyses from a financial standpoint transfer operations carried out by big-5 league clubs since 2010. The total expenditure for 2018 was €5.82 billion (-2.4% compared to 2017), of which €4.71 billion invested during the freshly concluded summer transfer window (-9.9%).

In 2018, the transfer spending of Premier League clubs accounted for 36.5% of the total big-5 league teams expenditure. Since 2010, English top division clubs had a net transfer spend of -€5.71 billion (78.3% of the overall big-5 league deficit). Manchester City has invested the most in transfer indemnities since 2010 (€1.47 billion). It also has the most negative balance sheet for transfer operations (-€1.03 billion).

Despite the slight drop in spending observed in 2018 compared to the 2017 record year, the economic development of the top of the professional football pyramid suggests that a renewed increase of sums invested in transfer fees will happen in the near future. While talent concentration makes possible the assembly of top performing teams, it also reinforces the imbalance of competitions.

Every month since January 2015, the CIES Football Observatory has been publishing reports to inform football stakeholders and all people passionate about the beautiful game on the latest trends observed at sporting, demographic and economic level. For the first time, the papers written during the 2017/18 season were gathered within a “Football Analytics” e-book.

In addition, during the last year, we spared no effort to develop exclusive contents allowing our website users to broaden the scope of their knowledge on football. Henceforth, the following unique tools are available free of charge:

Player profile comparator (big-5)

Transfer value trends (big-5)

Player performance rankings (big-5)

Club performance rankings (35 European leagues)

Digital Atlas (31 European top divisions)

The publication of the increasingly successful and influential Weekly Posts will start again after the summer break. The next Monthly Report will be published just after the end of the transfer window. It will analyse market trends from an economic standpoint. During the summer, exclusive information will be presented through our Twitter account and Facebook page.

To know more about corporate sponsorship opportunities, please contact us at football.observatory@cies.ch.

The 36th CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report analyses the composition of squads in five major women’s leagues: four European (Germany, Sweden, France and England), as well as the Women’s National Soccer League in the United States. The study highlights the increases in the average age of players. The number of expatriate footballers goes also up both on the pitch and in squads.

The economic development and professionalisation of the women’s game are leading to several processes already observed at men’s level. A convergence process notably exists in terms of players’ age. While on average still younger than their male counterparts, women playing in the leagues surveyed are getting older. Up until a certain level, this process will probably continue in the years to come.

A second important trend is the growth of the expatriate presence. While also still below the levels observed in the most competitive men’s leagues, the number of expatriate footballers in women’s clubs surveyed is on the increase. In this case too, a further growth is expected for the next years. The diversity of origins represented in the major championships should also go up.

Finally, as for the men’s game, without corrective measures, financial divides between clubs both at national and international level will increase. The economic development will indeed benefit some clubs and leagues much more than others. The high concentration of full internationals in some clubs (Wolfsburg, Lyon, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, etc.) already illustrates this process.

The last Weekly Post before the summer break ranks teams participating in the 2018 FIFA World Cup according to the transfer value of squad members, estimated from the CIES Football Observatory algorithm. At the top three positions of the table are France (€1.41 billion), England (€1.39 billion) and Brazil (€1.27 billion).

The valuations refer to the fair price that the most likely buyer clubs should pay to sign the players. The sporting performance of both the footballers themselves and their clubs of belonging are included in the algorithm. In addition, other variables such as age and contract duration are taken into account, as detailed in the following research note.

The estimated transfer value for all players participating in the World Cup is €12.6 billion. At the bottom of the table are three non-European countries with almost no players employed by clubs in the most competitive leagues: Panama, Saudi Arabia and Iran. The World Cup will probably allow some of them being spotted by teams in the richest football countries. The transfer values of all big-5 league players are available here.

Harry Kane has become the world most expensive player from a transfer value perspective according to the exclusive CIES Football Observatory algorithm. Following his new outstanding season, the Englishman is now worth €201.2 million. Tottenham’s striker outranks two Paris St-Germain’s players: Neymar (€197.5 m) and Kylian Mbappé (€186.5 m). The top 100 list for big-5 league footballers is available in issue number 230 of the Weekly Post.

In the top ten positions are players from six countries: England (Kane and Alli), Belgium (de Bruyne and Lukaku), Argentina (Messi and Dybala), France (Mbappé and Griezmann), Brazil (Neymar) and Egypt (Salah). With 16 players, France is the most represented country in the top 100. Cristiano Ronaldo (24th, €103.4 m) is the oldest footballer listed, while Gianluigi Donnarumma (73th, €67.5 m) is the youngest one.

The highest estimated values per position were recorded for Ederson Moraes (goalkeepers, €104.6 m), Samuel Umtiti (centre backs, €111.5 m), Kyle Walker (full backs, 89.8 m), Saúl Ñíguez (defensive midfielders, €100.5 m), Kevin de Bruyne (box-to-box midfielders, €167.2 m), Dele Alli (attacking midfielders, €171.0 m), Neymar (wingers, €197.5 m) and Harry Kane (centre forwards, €201.2 m). More information on the CIES Football Observatory algorithm is available here.

The five major European championships ended. Issue number 229 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post compares the final rank for each team with its position in a virtual table elaborated on the basis of a production index. The latter takes into account three key performance indicators (data from InStat): shots conceded or attempted from the box, as well as the percentage of possession.

Three out of the five champions also were the most productive teams: Bayern Munich (+94% compared to the Bundesliga club average), Paris St-Germain (+84%) and Manchester City (+82%). In Spain, third-ranked Real Madrid (+61%) had a higher production index than Barcelona (+52%). In Italy, runners-up Napoli (+59%) outranked Juventus (+38%).

The most positive gaps per league between the position in real table and that in the pitch production ranking were measured for Burnley (+11), Villarreal (+7), Amiens (+7), Hertha Berlin (+6) and Chievo (+5). The most negative differences were recorded for Southampton (-10), Athletic Club (-11), Caien (-5), Hamburger (-6) and Benevento (-6). The analysis for more European leagues are published on Twitter through the CIES Football Observatory account.

Dear subscriber,

the new EU data protection law will come into force tomorrow: the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). You no longer wish to receive emails from the CIES Football Observatory, please click the unsubscribe link below. If you do not unsubscribe now, you may unsubscribe at any time in the future.

We take advantage of the occasion to present you three exclusive items available for free on our website:

Transfer value trends

Profile comparator

Player rankings

Best regards,

the CIES Football Observatory team

Issue number 228 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analysed InStat data to unveil teams having scored the most goals within ten seconds from free kicks per domestic league minute played this season. Fresh Swiss champions Young Boys scored a goal from these situations every 277 minutes. This is the best value measured for the 31 European competitions included in the study.

Girona (318 minutes) tops the big-5 league table ahead of Italian champions Juventus (354 minutes) and Schalke 04 (360 minutes). However, the most positive gap between goals scored (8) and conceded (1) from free kicks situations was recorded for Spanish champions Barcelona (+7). Tottenham and Stade Rennais (both +6) rank second. Only Arsenal and Werder Bremen did not concede goals within ten seconds from free kicks.

Heidenheim (322 minutes) heads the table for second division leagues of countries hosting the five major European championships. The German team outranks Oviedo (341 minutes) and Queens Park Rangers (346 minutes). Young Boys is ahead Xanthi and Göztepe for countries between the 6th and 15th position in the UEFA rankings, while Radni?ki Niš tops the table for less performing leagues.

Issue number 227 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks footballers having played at least 1,800 big-5 league minutes over the season (1,440 for Germany) according to their performance level. Lionel Messi heads the table ahead of David Silva and Paulo Dybala. Six Manchester City players are in the top 10 list.

Robert Lewandowski ranks the table for German Bundesliga players (10th overall), while Edinson Cavani heads the French Ligue 1 rankings (21th overall). Per position, the best-ranked footballers are Marc-André ter Stegen for goalkeepers, Nicolás Otamendi for defenders, David Silva for midfielders and Lionel Messi for forwards. The methodology used is available in this research note.

The English Premier League is the most represented competition in the top 100 positions (30 footballers), while Bayern Munich is the most represented club (11 players). In total, 26 teams have at least one squad member in the top 100 list. The youngest footballers are Kylian Mbappé, Houssem Aouar, Malcom Filipe, Tanguy Ndombélé, Davinson Sánchez and Leroy Sané.

The last CIES Football Observatory study analyses the presence of expatriate players in the world. With 1,236 representatives abroad, Brazil is at top the table (+42 compared to 2017). France (821, +45) overtook Argentina (760, -26) as the second biggest exporter. The top 50 list is available in the 35th edition of the Monthly Report.

Brazilians are present in a record number of 78 associations out of the 93 covered by the study. The international path with the most expatriates involved goes from Brazil to Portugal. On the 1st of May 2018, 240 players from Brazil were playing in Portugal at professional adult level. The main destination for the French is England (99 players), while that of the Argentineans is Chile (106).

If we take population into account, the highest rate of expatriates per million of inhabitants was recorded for Iceland (180). This figure is above 100 only for one other association: Montenegro (134). It is also very high for double world champions Uruguay (96) and Croatia (80). In total, expatriates account for 21.2% of squads. This is 1.2% more than on the 1st of May 2017.

The average transfer value of Manchester City’s first team squad members estimated by means of the exclusive CIES Football Observatory algorithm reached a record high of €62.9 million. This is the greatest value measured at big-5 league level ahead of Barcelona (€55.3m) and Tottenham (€51.3m). The figures for all big-5 league teams are available in issue number 226 of the Weekly Post.

English Premier League economic power, outstanding performance, long-term contract duration and youthfulness are the key criteria explaining Manchester City’s first position. Seven of their players have an estimated transfer value of more than €100 million: Kevin de Bruyne, Leroy Sané, Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus, Ederson Moraes, Bernardo Silva and Sergio Agüero.

Among the 31 teams whose players have an average estimated transfer value greater than €10 million are nine clubs from the Premier League, eight from the Serie A, six from the Liga and four from both the Bundesliga and the Ligue 1. The lowest ranked Premier League team, West Bromwich Albion, is 55th out of 98. This also reflects the economic dominance of the English top division.

Issue number 225 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post reveals the most likely World Cup winners according to an exclusive power index. This index combines the average percentage of matches played at domestic league level since July 2017 by the 23 most fielded players per team in the qualifying campaign with the average sporting level of employer clubs. Spain tops the list ahead of Brazil.

During current season, the 23 Spanish footballers most fielded in the qualification stage have on average played 81.1% of domestic league matches. This is the highest figure measured among all participating teams. The average sporting level of the clubs employing Spanish players is also the greatest overall: 1.37. According to these criteria, Spain is well placed to repeat its 2010 success. Three other teams have a power index of more than 80: Brazil, France and Germany.

At the opposite end of the table, the lowest power index was recorded for Panama. Two other nations have a score inferior to 25: Iran and Saudi Arabia. For all these countries, reaching the last 16 stage would be a great achievement. For more information about the features of players employed during the qualifications, please refer to the 30th edition of the CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report.

Issue number 224 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the best performing big-5 league players whose contract runs out at the end of the season. Pepe Reina ranks first ahead of two other goalkeepers (Vicente Guaita and Gianluigi Buffon), as well as Arjen Robben. Only footballers having played at least 1,000 domestic league minutes during the current season are included in the rankings.

For outfield players, the CIES Football Observatory performance index takes into account the production and efficiency in six different areas of the game: rigour, recovery, distribution, take on, chance creation and shooting. For goalkeepers, it includes the minutes per goal conceded, as well as the number and percentage of saves. Results achieved for matches played are also considered as a weighting factor.

In the top 50 list are many relatively young full international players such as Emre Can (Liverpool), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal), Leon Goretzka and Max Meyer (Schalke 04), Sanjin Prci? (Stade Rennais) and Stefan de Vrij (Lazio). As for Goretzka, who already signed for Bayern Munich, all these players will most probably be able to negotiate lucrative contracts in prestigious teams.

Gianluigi Buffon heads the table for the big-5 league players who have been for the longest period in their club employment. The legendary Italian goalkeeper already played for 17 seasons at Juventus. This is sixth months more than the second ranked footballer, Sergio Pellissier (Chievo), and one year more than for Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona) and Roman Weidenfeller (Borussia Dortmund). The top 110 list is available in issue number 223 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post.

In total, 61 footballers played for at least ten seasons in their current club. Among them are many other legendary players such as Lionel Messi (14 seasons in Barcelona’s first team squad), Giorgio Chiellini (13, Juventus), Sergio Ramos (13, Real Madrid), Michael Carrick (12, Manchester United), Marcelo (11.5, Real Madrid), Franck Ribéry (11, Bayern Munich), Marek Hamšík (11, Napoli), Fernando Torres (10, Atlético Madrid) and Cristiano Ronaldo (9, Real Madrid).

In five clubs, the most loyal squad member only played there for four seasons: Fiorentina (Badelj), Crotone (Martella), Getafe (Guaita), Nice (Mendy, Pléa and Pouplin), as well as Caen (Vercoutre, Féret, da Silva and Bazile). The freshly published 34th edition of the CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report analyses the relationships between squad stability and success in 31 top division leagues of UEFA member associations.

The first CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report published in January 2015 studied club stability across Europe. Three years later, the thirty-fourth edition develops this issue by illustrating the value of long-term planning for football clubs. The indicator selected is the percentage of players recruited by their employer club since less than one year.

The study reveals that the best performing teams have much more stable squads than lesser competitive ones. Between 2009 and 2017, big-5 league champions had on average only about one in four new players as squad members. This proportion can be considered as an optimal balance to achieve success.

The Report also highlights the increasing instability of teams across Europe. On the 1st of October 2017, 44.9% of players were recruited during the year. This figure was only 36.7% in 2009. If this trend continues, footballers who have been with their employer club for more than one year will soon represent less than half of squad members.

To limit the growing instability, football’s governing bodies should act against the increasing financial gaps between teams both nationally and internationally. They should also combat corrupt practices at both transfer market and club management levels. It is also necessary to limit the speculation around players’ mobility, notably through a greater protection of training clubs, the enforcement of the third-party ownership ban and the reinforcement of the regulations regarding football intermediaries.

Visit the exclusive CIES Football Observatory Digital Atlas to know more about the demographic features of teams in 31 top division leagues of UEFA member associations.

Barcelona and Real Madrid top the rankings for the longest average contract duration of first team squad members. Six out of the eight top ranked clubs are still competing in European Cups. This illustrates the relationships between long-term planning and success. The 222nd edition of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the data for all big-5 league teams.

On average, a Barcelona first team squad member has 3.23 years of contract remaining. This figure is 3.59 for the 11 players who have been fielded the most in domestic league games so far this year. The longest average contract durations for the other big-5 leagues were measured for  Tottenham , LOSC Lille, RB Leipzig and AS Rome.

At the opposite end of the table, the lowest figure overall was observed for the French side Amiens (0.99 years). In three clubs only, the average contract duration of the 11 most fielded players is below one year: Crotone, Benevento and Strasbourg. All the teams at the bottom of the rankings are confronted with the difficulty of renovating their squads without losing competitiveness.

Follow us on Twitter & Facebook

Issue number 221 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the percentage of matches with a gap of three or more goals in 29 European competitions. The highest figure so far this season was observed for the Champions League: 29% (+8% compared to the same moment during last season). This percentage is twice as high as at Europa League level: 16% (+3%).

The English Premier League had so far the third highest proportion of very uneven matches among the competitions surveyed: 22% (+4%). At the opposite end of the table, the German Bundesliga is by far the big-5 European league with the lowest percentage of games with a three or more goal gap: 11% (-6%). The lowest proportion overall was measured in Russia: 10% (-4%).

The percentage of imbalanced fixtures increased in 20 out of the 29 competitions analysed. Overall, the average goal gap per match increased from 1.37 to 1.40. The highest figure for this indicator was also recorded at Champions League level: 1.87 from 1.55 last season (+21%). This analysis reveals the general trend towards competitive unbalance in European football.

The 220th issue of the Weekly Post presents players from the big-5 who performed the best in domestic league matches during the last three months. Footballers are ranked according to the exclusive approach developed by the CIES Football Observatory to measure the technical performance of players. Only footballers who played at least 45 minutes in eight championship matches are included in the rankings.

The CIES Football methodology takes into account the performance of players in six different areas of the game: rigour, recovery, distribution, take on, chance creation and shooting. In addition, the results obtained by the clubs of employment for matches in which players were fielded for at least 45 minutes were also taken into consideration as a weighting factor.

The following players head the table in their respective position: Hugo Lloris (goalkeepers), Kalidou Koulibaly (centre backs), Mário Rui (full backs), Toni Kroos (defensive midfielders), Christian Eriksen (box-to-box midfielders), Lionel Messi (wingers) and Cristiano Ronaldo (forwards). This widget allows users accessing the rankings for different periods.

The CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post number 219 presents the 50 big-5 league players with the most positive gap between their current transfer value and the fee paid for them by their employer club. The greatest potential added value could be achieved by Tottenham Hotspur with Harry Kane: €198 million.

Another player trained by his club of employment ranks second: Lionel Messi. However, given Messi’s age, the potential profit for Barcelona will progressively reduce. Dele Alli is third with a potential added value of €164 million. The possible benefit for Atlético Madrid regarding Antoine Griezmann does not take into account the €100 million buy-out clause negotiated by the Frenchman during his last contract extension.

The estimated values are calculated using an exclusive algorithm conceived by the CIES Football Observatory research team. An increasing number of professional clubs and football intermediaries have recourse to the approach developed for transfer negotiations and litigation. The estimations for all big-5 league players are available here.

The 33rd edition of the CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report presents a comparative analysis of the presence of club-trained players in 31 European top divisions between 2009 and 2017. It notably reveals that footballers having been for at least three years between the ages of 15 and 21 in their club of employment accounted for almost one quarter of champion winning team squads, compared to only about one fifth for all clubs surveyed.

The ability to develop footballers for the first team squad contributes to the competitive advantage held by the most successful clubs. However, this finding is partially related to the current club-trained player definition. Indeed, after three years, a player recruited up until the age of 18 can still be considered as a club-trained footballer for the team that signed him. This encourages top European teams to lure the best talents initially trained by less competitive clubs.

A change in the definition of club-trained or association-trained players would be useful to ensure a sounder development of the European game. Lowering the relevant age range from 15 to 21 years to 12 to 17 years would be helpful in limiting the increasing speculation around the transfer of minors. Indeed, according to FIFA rules, communitarian players can only move abroad after their 16th birthday. This would de facto disallow recruiting teams or associations to acquire a training status for players imported as minors.

While having a well performing youth academy does not lead directly to success, the report shows that it is a relevant indicator of the club’s ability to look to the future. The existence of a powerful youth setting is also a good indicator of the club’s strength as a territorially embedded organisation. Beyond short-term results, investing in youth training can be considered a gauge for the sustainable development of the club as an institution.

Issue number 218 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights big-5 league players whose transfer value has increased the most during the last six months. Only footballers who did not change team or extend their contract are included in the rankings. In the top positions are three English Premier League players: Mohammed Salah (+€74.7M), Ederson Moraes (+€74.4M) and Leroy Sané (+€63.0M).

The strongest increases for players from the four other major European chmpionships were recorded for Kylian Mbappé (+€54.7M) in the French Ligue 1, Paulinho Bezerra (+€42.4) in the Spanish Liga, Sergej Milinkovi?-Savi? (+€40.7M) in the Italian Serie A and Dayot Upamecano (+€35.6M) in the German Bundesliga.

Transfer value estimates are based on the exclusive algorithm developed by the CIES Football Observatory research team. Current figures for all of the big-5 league footballers can be accessed here. This unique widget presents the trends since last summer. For more information and analysis, you can follow us on Twitter.

The CIES Football Observatory has partnered with the leading football data company InStat to analyse the performance of teams across Europe. Issue number 217 of the Weekly Post lists the 100 clubs from 31 competitions with the best ratios between shots taken and conceded from the box during the current domestic league season. Porto ranks first ahead of Ludogorets and Crvena Zvezda.

Porto attempted 3.79 more shots from the opponents’ box than those conceded from its own box. The best ratios in the five major European leagues were measured for Napoli (2.93), Manchester City (2.87), Paris St-Germain (2.73), Bayern Munich (2.47) and Liverpool (2.23). Surprisingly, Real Madrid (2.10) outranks Barcelona (1.82). This finding suggests that Zidane’s side was particularly unlucky at domestic league level so far this season.

The top 50 lists of the best performing clubs from 35 European leagues for defence, possession and attack are available on the CIES Football Observatory website. For more information about InStat data and additional analysis requests, please contact us at football.observatory@cies.ch.

Issue number 216 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post uses OptaPro data to analyse the dribbling skills of big-5 league players. The dribbling index is calculated by multiplying the average number of dribbles achieved per 90 minutes with the percentage of successful ones. This allows us to take into account both the quantity and quality of dribbles. Three players clearly distinguish themselves in this area: Eden Hazard, Neymar and Lionel Messi.

While Neymar won so far a higher number of contests per 90 domestic league minutes, Hazard achieved a greater percentage of dribbles attempted: 75% compared to 62%. Messi’s success rate is also 62%. The highest percentages of successful dribbles among players figuring in the top 100 were measured for central midfielders: Mousa Dembélé, Mario Lemina, Julian Draxler, etc. This finding reflects the more defensive location of their dribbles.

Players trained in France are over-represented at the top of the table: nine in the first 15 positions. This reveals the excellence of the French training system and its ability to promote skilful players. The best ranked footballers trained in the other countries hosting the five major European leagues are Isco (16th), Zaha and Loftus-Cheek (19th), Draxler (19th) and D’Alessandro (38th). The technical profile of all big-5 league players is available here.

The CIES Football Observatory has analysed the domestic league experience cumulated during the last two years by U20 players from 22 European competitions to identify those with the best career prospects. Minutes played by each footballer were weighted according to the sporting level of leagues and the results achieved by employer clubs. Weekly Post number 215 presents the 50 players with the highest experience capital scores.

The five-star prospect category includes ten players who should be able to establish themselves in the very best European teams. In the top three positions are Gianluigi Donnarumma, Alban Lafont and Kylian Mbappé. Eighteen footballers make up the four-star category list. All of these players have a concrete possibility to spend the big part of their career in the most competitive European championships. Three-star prospects also are in a favourable position to stay or reach the highest levels of the football pyramid.

The capital experience methodology exclusively developed by the CIES Football Observatory research team allows market actors to compare talents across leagues on an objective basis. This is particularly useful from a scouting perspective. Last season’s rankings are accessible here. The freshly published February’s Monthly Report investigates the link between age and success in Europe.

The demographic analysis of squads is a key research area of the CIES Football Observatory. The 32nd edition of the Monthly Report analyses the age structure of teams from 31 top division European leagues. This allows us to show discrepancies on an international level, while also investigating the links between the age structure of teams and success.

The comparative analysis of the average age of champions since 2009 reveals great cultural differences in the perception of the most favourable age structure for a squad. At one extreme, the youngest champions are to be found in the Netherlands (24.2 years), where teams pay high attention to the training and development of young talents. At the other extreme, Cypriot champion teams had the oldest squads over the period surveyed (28.8 years).

Generally, clubs that are more competitive have older squads. However, after a certain threshold of sporting and economic power, the age structure of clubs tends to converge around 26.5 years of age. Between 2009 and 2017, the median age of champions in the five major European leagues was also 26.5 years old. In order to achieve success at the highest level, it is important for clubs to have as many players who did not celebrate their 27th birthday than footballers over this age threshold.

No club in football history has invested as much money in transfer indemnities to assemble the squad than Manchester City presently. Despite the loan of Mangala to Everton, the expensive signing of Laporte brought the total squad recruitment cost to a record high of €878 M. The data for all big-5 league teams is available in issue number 214 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post.

Manchester City outranks Paris St-Germain (€805 M), Manchester United (€747 M) and Barcelona (€725 M). These are the only clubs having spent more than €700 M to assemble their current squad. The economic logic suggests that the next Champions League winners is to be found among these teams. However, while money is important, other factors such as team cohesion can influence the course of events.

The average amounts invested in transfer fees by league and team varies between €97 M for the French Ligue 1 to a record high of €291 M at English Premier League level. The figures in the three other competitions of the big-5 are more balanced: €113 M for the German Bundesliga, €124 M for the Italian Serie A and €131 M for the Spanish Liga. In total, 42 clubs out of 98 have a squad recruitment cost of more than €100 M.

Follow us on Twitter & Facebook

Issue number 213 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses transactions carried out by big-5 league clubs during January’s transfer window. For the first time in history, the total estimated spending was over one billion euro. Transfer expenditure increased by 36% compared to the previous record figure measured in 2017. English Premier League investments accounted for 51% of transfer indemnities paid by big-5 league clubs as a whole.

Since 2010, Premier League teams always had negative balance sheets for operations carried out during winter windows. The net balance in 2018 was -€113 M despite the expensive transfers of Philippe Coutinho and Diego Costa from England to Spain. These signings mainly explain the record deficit observed for Spanish Liga teams: -€188 M. The estimated balance sheets for the three other major European championships were positive: +€48 M for the Italian Serie A, +€33 M for the German Bundesliga and +€14 M for the French Ligue 1.

Once again, a high correlation (75%) was measured between values estimated through the exclusive CIES Football Observatory algorithm and fees paid by clubs. However, the majority of transfers were concluded for higher amounts than those estimated. This confirms the ongoing inflation trend in football players’ transfer market. The updated transfer values for all big-5 league squad members are available here.

The CIES Football Observatory research group is happy to disclose a brand new “performance rankings” widget. This exclusive tool allows users to assess the level of big-5 league players over four different time periods: last week, last month, last three months and last six months. Footballers are ranked according to their pitch production in domestic league matches using the unique statistics produced by the leading data company OptaPro.

At the head of the European rankings for the last six and three months is David Silva (Manchester City), while Lionel Messi tops the table for the last month. Among the players who obtained the highest possible mark for last week matches are established stars such as Ángel Di Maria (Paris St-Germain), Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), as well as promising talents such as Álex Berenguer (Torino), Amine Harit (Schalke 04) and Moise Kean (Verona).

Two other widgets are available on the CIES Football Observatory website. They allow users comparing the technical profile of big-5 league players and monitoring trends in their transfer values. More information on the performance algorithms developed by the CIES Football Observatory is available here. This research note presents the approach used to estimate the transfer value of professional footballers.

The CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post number 212 presents the 100 clubs from 31 European competitions having achieved the most accurate passes per domestic league game since the start of the season. The Post also includes the exclusive InStat data on the percentage of accurate passes and the average number of passes completed per minute of possession.

All teams qualified for the last 16 round of the UEFA Champions League are in the top 100 positions of the rankings. However, the gaps are quite marked. At one end, Manchester City (1st) achieved 685 passes per match (17.2 per minute of possession). At the other end, FC Basel (94th) only completed 426 passes per domestic league game (14.4 per minute of possession). This is the highest gap between last 16 round adversaries.

The highest cumulated number of accurate passes per game for Champions League opponents was recorded for Paris St-Germain (622) and Real Madrid (540). At the opposite end is the Manchester United (459) and Sevilla (456) fixture. Our analysis suggests that these oppositions will be particularly even. The most probable quarter finalists with respect to pass statistics are Manchester City, Paris St-Germain, Bayern Munich, Shaktar Donetsk, Barcelona, Juventus, Liverpool and Manchester United.

Follow us on Twitter & Facebook

Issue number 211 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks teams from the five major European championships according to the percentage of players signed from foreign clubs. Manchester City tops the rankings with 17 international recruitments out of 22 players fielded so far in domestic league games (77.3%). At the opposite end of the table is Athletic Club Bilbao (one player, Aymeric Laporte, out of 23).

The proportion of players signed from abroad is above two thirds in six other clubs: Chelsea, Lazio, Sevilla, Leipzig, Paris St-Germain and Udinese. In total, 29 teams recruited at least half of the footballers fielded so far from foreign clubs. English Premier League teams are over-represented among those transferring the highest percentage of squad members from abroad. Burnley (9.1%) and Bournemouth (9.5%) are exceptions to the rule.

In general, the most competitive clubs sign a greater percentage of players from foreign teams than lesser performing ones. However, this is not a fatality. Liverpool, Juventus, Real Madrid, Napoli, Manchester United, Barcelona and Tottenham all signed less than half of current squad members from abroad. The freshly published 31st edition of the CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report presents a deeper analysis of transfer networks in professional football.

Football offers a wide array of possibilities to undertake network analysis. Issue number 31 of the CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report focuses on transfer networks from a triple research perspective. What are the main destinations for players from the three principal exporting countries: Brazil, Argentina and France? What are the big-5 league clubs’ recruitment areas? Where do Real Madrid, Manchester United, AS Rome, Bayern Munich and Paris St-Germain sign their players?

The study shows that the Brazilian player is the only truly global worker in the professional football labour market. Brazilians are present in 80 of the 91 associations covered in the study. While also numerous abroad, Argentineans and French migrate relatively more to neighbouring countries. The analysis also reveals that teams from the five major European championships transfer a higher percentage of players from abroad. However, the proportion of footballers signed from non-European countries is on the decrease.

An increasing number of players in general, and non-European ones more specifically, first move to intermediary countries in order to prove themselves before to eventually being able to attain a club in the big-5 leagues. Within this increasingly speculative and fragmented context, many footballers get lost along the way. Today more than ever, mental strength and cultural adaptability are of key importance to have a successful career path.

The technical statistics produced by the leading data football company InStat are very valuable to analyse performance on an objective basis. Issue number 210 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 50 teams in 35 European competitions with the most positive and negative gaps between points per match achieved and predicted on the basis of a performance model including the variables of shots conceded from the box, possession and shots on target.

The highest positive gap between points achieved and predicted according to pitch production was recorded for Viktoria Plze?. The Czech side obtained so far 2.88 points per game instead of 1.6. At big-5 league level, the greater positive difference between points achieved and expected was measured for Atlético Madrid. Burnley, Monaco, Manchester United, Nantes and Valencia were also particularly efficient.

Conversely, Greek sides Platanias heads the table for teams that achieved the least points per game with respect to their performance level (-0.97 points per match). Benevento and Milan AC were also particularly inefficient. Future will tell to what extent these negative gaps are related to bad luck. The European rankings for the three performance metrics used for this analysis are available here. Please contact us for more information about InStat data.

Like every January, the CIES Football Observatory has calculated the transfer values of players in the five major European leagues. The assessment takes into account the key criteria used by market actors such as age, position, contract duration, performance, international status, etc. Neymar (€213m) heads the table ahead of Lionel Messi (€202m) and Harry Kane (€195m). The top 100 list is available in issue number 209 of the Weekly Post.

Five players from the English Premier League are in the top ten: Harry Kane (2nd), Dele Alli (6th), Kevin de Bruyne (7th), Romelu Lukaku (8th) and Paul Pogba (10th). However, the highest estimated values for goalkeepers and defenders were recorded for two FC Barcelona’s players: Marc-André ter Stegen (€96m) and Samuel Umtiti (€101m). Paulo Dybala (€175m) heads the Serie A rankings, while Robert Lewandowski (€107m) has the greatest figure for German Bundesliga players.

This research note details the scientific methodology used for these estimates. The ratings module on the CIES Football Observatory website presents the values for all big-5 league players. This transfer widget displays the trends from a comparative perspective. Potential clients and commercial partners are kindly invited to contact us to develop new collaborations for a new and exciting football year!

FC Barcelona currently employs 20 players fielded by national A-teams in 2017 for a record number of 139 matches and 10,846 minutes. The Catalan side outranks two English clubs (Manchester United and Tottenham), Juventus FC and Bayern Munich. At sixth place is the Nicaraguan team Real Estelí. The top 100 list is available in issue number 208 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post.

England is the most represented country in the top 100 positions: 16 clubs. Five English teams are in the top 10. Germany (10 clubs) and Italy (9) are the second and third nations with the most representatives in the top 100 rankings. The presence of six teams from the United States confirms the robust development of the professional game in this country.

Overall, 38 associations have at least one club ranked in the top 100. Among them, 20 are UEFA member associations, while 18 belongs to other Confederations. The three best ranked non-European teams are Real Estelí from Nicaragua, Al Sadd from Qatar and San Jose Earthquakes from the United States. For more information, please contact us at football.observatory@cies.ch.

Our warmest season’s greetings to you and your family, and our best wishes for a happy and successful New Year!

Every semester, the CIES Football Observatory lists players who performed the best in big-5 league matches using an exclusive statistical approach. Issue number 207 of the Weekly Post presents the top 10 tables for eight positions. Only footballers who played at least 720’ domestic league minutes are included in the rankings.

Players from four leagues head the tables: Liga’s Jan Oblak (goalkeepers) and Lionel Messi (wingers); Premier League’s Nicolás Otamendi (centre backs) and Sergio Agüero (centre forwards); Ligue 1’s Marco Verratti (box-to-box midfielders) and Nabil Fekir (second strikers); as well as Serie A’s Faouzi Ghoulam (full backs) and Jorginho Frello (defensive midfielders).

Besides established football stars, in the top 10 tables also are relatively unknown footballers such as Nick Pope (Burnley), Alisson Becker (Roma), Michael Gregoritsch (Hoffenheim), Luis Alberto (Lazio) or Rodrigo Moreno (Valencia). The most represented club is Manchester City (12 players), ahead of Paris St-Germain (8 players).

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook to access more exclusive information.

The young French prodigy Kylian Mbappé heads the CIES Football Observatory table for the U21 big-5 league players with the highest estimated transfer values. The Paris Saint-Germain striker outranks Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur) and Leroy Sané (Manchester City). The top 100 list is available in the issue number 206 of the Weekly Post.

According to the exclusive CIES Football Observatory’s algorithm, during the last three months, the transfer value of Kylian Mbappé has increased from €133.8 M to €182.8 M (+37%). This allowed him to outrank Dele Alli, whose transfer value remained stable at around €180 M. Ousmane Dembélé (Barcelona), Timo Werner (RB Leipzig) and Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan) top the rankings in their respective leagues.

The estimated transfer values for all big-5 league players are available in the ratings module of the CIES Football Observatory’s website. This widget allows you comparing transfer value trends. Media and clubs interested in this tool or in our services can contact us.

The CIES Football Observatory and FIFA have joined forces to analyse the profiles of the players who were fielded by the 32 qualified teams on the road to Russia. The analysis highlights the diversity of the squads in terms of both age and height, as well as the importance of migration with almost two thirds of footballers currently playing for clubs outside of the association they represent.

Nigeria fielded the youngest players (with an average age of 24.9 years) in the qualifiers, followed by title-holders Germany (25.7) and by U-17 and U-20 world champions England (25.9). At the opposite end of the spectrum are two newcomers Panama (29.4 years) and Iceland (29.0), as well as 2014 FIFA World Cup quarter-finalists Costa Rica (29.0).

There were also considerable differences among the teams in terms of the average height of players. At one extreme, seven associations fielded players with an average height of less than 180cm: Peru, Argentina and Uruguay (CONMEBOL), Saudi Arabia and Japan (AFC), Mexico (CONCACAF), and Spain (UEFA). At the other extreme, the average height of the players fielded by four European nations – Iceland, Denmark, Sweden and Serbia – was at least 185cm.

The study also reveals that about 9% of players were born outside of the association they represent. Only seven of the 32 teams did not field any players born abroad. The number of footballers playing for clubs outside of the association they represent also illustrates the importance of migration in football. In total, 64.6% of footballers play abroad: from 0% for England and Saudi Arabia, to 100% for Croatia, Sweden and Iceland.

The full study is available in issue number 30 of the CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report. The CIES Football Observatory is a research group within the Centre International d’Étude du Sport (CIES), a Swiss-based independent study centre founded in 1995 by FIFA in partnership with the canton and town of Neuchâtel. More information is available at www.cies.ch and www.football-observatory.com.

The 204th edition of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post lists the 10 most fielded footballers per position born in or after 1997 in both the big-5 leagues and 26 other top division European championships. With 19 players, the French Ligue 1 is by far the most represented competition. The youngest footballer in the big-5 league tables is Dan-Axel Zagadou (Borussia Dortmund).

Players from all of the five major European championships except Germany head the big-5 league rankings: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan) and Alban Lafont (Toulouse) for goalkeepers, Unai Núñez (Athletic Club) for centre backs, Kelvin Amian (Toulouse) for full backs, Lucas Tousart (Lyon) for defensive midfielders, Carlos Soler (Valencia) for attacking midfielders, as well as Richarlison (Watford) for forwards.

The most represented leagues among the remaining 26 competitions studied are the Dutch and Slovakian top divisions (8 players each), followed by the Croatian (6) and Ukrainian (5) ones. The youngest footballer in the rankings is Juho Hyvärinen (Rovaniemi). The average age on the pitch for all clubs and leagues analysed is available in the exclusive CIES Football Observatory Digital Atlas.

Follow us on Twitter

Like our Facebook page

Issue number 203 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses data provided by InStat to highlight the 100 clubs from 35 European competitions that conceded the least shots from their own box per domestic league game played since the start of the season. The lowest figure was recorded for Olimpija Ljubljana, while Manchester City heads the big-5 league rankings.

Only 12 clubs from the five major European leagues are in the top 100. This is mainly due to more open styles of play, as notably illustrated in the 28th edition of the CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report. Panathinaikos is the most impermeable team among those not ranked in the top three positions of their league.

The top 50 rankings for defence, possession and attack are available on the CIES Football Observatory website. For more information about data produced by the leading football data company InStat, please contact us at football.observatory@cies.ch.

Like our Facebook page

Follow us on Twitter

Issue number 202 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks big-5 league teams according to the estimated transfer value of their players. The aggregated value of current squad members is above one billion euro for four clubs: Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, FC Barcelona and Chelsea FC.

Transfer values are estimated on the basis of the algorithm exclusively developed by the CIES Football Observatory research team. According to this, Manchester City’s current squad has a total transfer value of almost €1.2 billion. Kevin de Bruyne is the potentially most expensive Manchester City player (€144.5 million), while three other City’s squad members are worth more than €100 million: Leroy Sané, Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus.

The up-to-date estimated values for all big-5 league players are available in the ratings module of the CIES Football Observatory website. The freshly conceived transfer value widget presents the historical trends for each player. Media interested in using this tool can contact us at football.observatory@cies.ch.

Follow us on Twitter

Like our Facebook page

Since 2009, the CIES Football Observatory has monitored the evolution of the demographics of players in 31 European top division leagues. The 2017 census reveals the intensification of the key trends observed throughout the period analysed: decrease of club-trained players, increase of expatriates and growing squad instability. The Monthly Report number 29 presents the data for all leagues studied.

Henceforth, club-trained players only account for 18.5% of squads (-4.7% since 2009). It is the lowest figure ever recorded. Conversely, the percentage of expatriates reached a new record high: 39.7% (+5.0% since 2009). A new record high was also observed with regard to the percentage of players signed during the year: 44.8% (+8.1% since 2009).

These trends reflect the increasing speculation on transfer operations and, more generally, in the management of professional teams across Europe. The central question is to know just how far this process can go without jeopardising the interest of competitions, the credibility of professional football and its sustainable development in the majority of countries.

Follow us on Twitter

Like our Facebook page

Issue number 201 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the lists of the 50 clubs from 36 European leagues who fielded the tallest and shortest line-ups since the start of the season. At the head of the rankings are FC København (186.2cm) and Ludogorets Razgrad (177.0cm). But does height explain success at adult level?

No correlation exists between the average height of teams and results achieved. The gaps observed rather reflect different approaches to the game. While some coaches prefer tall players, other give priority to shorter ones. However, very short players will struggle to establish themselves as professionals. The average height of all footballers in the leagues surveyed is 182.1 cm.

In total, only 67 clubs out of 572 (11.7%) fielded players on average shorter than 180cm. Among them, we notably find Manchester City (Guardiola), OGC Nice (Favre), FC Barcelona (Valverde), Olympique Lyonnais (Génésio) and Real Madrid (Zidane). The data for all teams in 31 top division European leagues is available in the CIES Football Observatory Digital Atlas.

The CIES Football Observatory has further developed its website with the inclusion of a brand new player performance widget. Using data provided by OptaPro, this unique tool allows users to compare the technical profile of players from the five major European leagues.

The comparison takes into account the performance of players in six areas of the game: rigour, recovery, distribution, take on, chance creation and shooting. The CIES Football Index measures the general performance of footballers over the last 1,000 domestic league minutes played. More information on the exclusive CIES Football Observatory approach is available in this research note.

This new and exciting tool is an ideal complement to the transfer value trend widget launched last month. The CIES Football Observatory research team is happy to stay at your disposal for any request at football.observatory@cies.ch.

Follow us on Twitter

Like us on Facebook

Issue number 200 of the increasingly popular CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights the clubs having trained the most footballers present on the 1st of October 2017 in 31 top division European leagues. At the top of the table is Ajax Amsterdam, while Real Madrid trained the most big-5 league players.

Following UEFA’s definition, training clubs are teams where players stayed for at least three years between the ages of 15 and 21. AFC Ajax trained 71 footballers currently active in the 31 European championships surveyed. This figure was 72 on the 1st of October 2016. The Dutch team outranks Dinamo Zagreb (67) and Partizan Belgrad (61).

As for 2016, Real Madrid tops the table for big-5 league players. Eight of the 41 footballers trained by the Spanish side still play at Real Madrid. The second and third teams having trained the most players currently active in the five major European championships are Barcelona (34) and Olympique Lyonnais (31).

Follow us on Twitter

Like us on Facebook

The ability of teams to shoot is a key success factor. This holds even more true with regard to shots on target. Using the exclusive data produced by InStat, issue number 199 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 100 clubs from the main top division European leagues presenting the highest figures for shots on target per match during the current season.

No team in the competitions surveyed achieved as many shots on target per domestic league game as SSC Napoli: 8.9. The Italian top-ranked team outranks Ajax (8.5) and their opponents in tonight Champions League game Manchester City (8.0).

The number of shots on target correlates inversely with the average distance of shots attempted. The best performing teams not only attempt more shots overall, but shoot on average from a closer range than less competitive sides. Consequently, the percentage of their shots that reach the target is generally higher.

Like Us On Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Issue number 198 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks top division teams from 31 European associations according to the percentage of domestic league minutes played by expatriates since the start of the season. Three Cypriot clubs are at the top of this ranking: Apollon Limassol (99.8%), Anorthosis Famagusta (95.3%) et AEK Larnaca (91.5%). Chelsea is ranked first at the big-5 league level (90.4%).

Expatriates are players who grew up in a different association from that of their employer club and who went abroad for football-related reasons. Only three teams out of the 466 included in the analysis did not yet field expatriate footballers in domestic league games this season: Oleksandriya (UKR), Veres (UKR) and HIFK (FIN).

In total, expatriates played 41.6% of minutes available. At league level, this figure varies from 80.2% in the Cypriot top division to 15.0% in Serbia. The data for all leagues and clubs surveyed is available for free in the exclusive CIES Football Observatory Digital Atlas.

The analysis of pitch performances at both individual and collective level is one of the three principle fields of research of the CIES Football Observatory. The 28th edition of our Monthly Report compares 35 national competitions across Europe using the database made available by the InStat company. The sample comprises 19,544 matches played between the 1st September 2015 and the 31st August 2017.

The analysis focuses on three aspects: the teams’ ball management, the degree of openness of games, as well as the level of power balance between opponents. The principle conclusion drawn is that the top leagues differentiate themselves above all by the fluidity of games, as illustrated by the highest level of successful passes and the quickest ball circulation.

The five best values in terms of passes per minutes of possession were recorded for the five major European championships, with a maximum of 18.2 for the German Bundesliga. The big-5 leagues also top the table for the percentage of successful passes, with a maximum of 82.4% for the Italian Serie A. More surprisingly, the Swedish and Israeli top divisions figure high in this ranking.

This study is but an initial foray in exploiting the numerous possibilities available thanks to the new collaboration between the CIES Football Observatory and InStat. The depth and breadth of data produced by this company constitutes a solid basis for many future research projects.

The CIES Football Observatory has specialised in the scientific estimation of professional players’ transfer value. Issue number 197 of the Weekly Post highlights big-5 league footballers whose transfer value augmented the most in absolute terms since July 2017. At the head of the rankings are Romelu Lukaku (+€56m), Kylian Mbappé (+€50m) and Paulo Dybala (+€47m).

The estimated value of Romelu Lukaku increased by 54% during the last three months: from €102.7m before his transfer to Manchester United to €158.5 m after his excellent start of the season. Beyond inflation, expensive transfers to other teams, contract extensions and top level performances are the key reasons underlying the strongest increases observed.

In relative terms, the increase was above 100% for many young and promising players. Among them notably are Patrick Cutrone (Milan), Adama Diakhaby (Monaco) and Dennis Geiger (Hoffenheim). The exclusive CIES Football Observatory transfer value widget presents the trends for all big-5 league players, while their technical profile is available here.

Follow us on Twitter: @CIES_Football