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.