The 506th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the most influential footballers of the season in 60 leagues around the world. The index used to rank the players is calculated on the basis of their performances in six areas of the game thanks to the data exclusively produced by our partners Impect, the minutes played and the results obtained.

The highest score overall was recorded for Mohamed Salah, ahead of two Barcelona players: Lamine Yamal and Pedri González. Two other Liverpool footballers top the list for defensive positions: Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold. Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen) heads the rankings for attacking midfielders, while Kylian Mbappé is ahead of Viktor Gyökeres for centre forwards.

The six areas of the game considered are aerial play (with Alexander Sörloth at the top of the list), ground defence (Moisés Caicedo), distribution (Nico Schlotterbeck), take on (Vinícius Júnior), chance creation (Lamine Yamal) and finishing (Ousmane Dembélé). Yamal aside, three other U20s feature among the 300 players listed (50 per position): Estêvão Willian (Palmeiras, on loan from Chelsea), Pau Cubarsí (Barcelona) and Jorrel Hato (Ajax).

>>> Top 50s per position

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Issue number 505 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the top 100 of associations having exported the greatest number of footballers to 135 leagues around the world between 2020 and 2025. With no fewer than 3,020 distinct expatriates, Brazil is ahead of the last two World Cup winners : France (2,293) and Argentina (2,171).

In the top ten is a third South American country, Colombia, an African nation, Nigeria, and five additional European ones : England (notably due to the strong presence of English players in other British associations), Spain, Germany, Serbia and Croatia. The biggest increase between 2020 and 2025 in absolute terms was recorded for France (+372 expatriates), followed by Argentina (+216) and Nigeria (+181).

The 100th Monthly Report presents in greater detail the trends in the number of expatriates for the main exporting nations, as well as the main destinations and changes observed. Also available free of charge, the Migration Atlas is a valuable tool for understanding the global geography of footballer flows. For all these studies, the origin of the players was established on the basis of the association where they grew up.

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The 504th edition of the Weekly Post presents the 100 players who changed clubs permanently during the last two transfer windows and whose current value would enable the teams owning them to make the biggest capital gains. Top of the list is Kylian Mbappé, who was signed for no transfer fee by Real Madrid last summer and is now valued at €182.5 million by the CIES Football Observatory statistical model.

Bournemouth centre back and new Spanish full international Dean Huijsen comes second with a potential capital gain of €68.5 million, although this does not take into account any eventual buy-out clauses negotiated last summer when he signed his contract with the English side. Manchester City’s Brazilian winger Savinho, also recruited a year ago at an affordable price, rounds off the podium with a potential capital gain of €59.9 million.

In the top five also are Frenchman Michael Olise (+€47.8 million) and Italy’s Moise Kean (+€41.7 m). To the extent of the information available, the sums mentioned take into account all add-ons regardless of their effective payment, as well as the eventual sell-on fees negotiated by previous clubs. All the details on the CIES Football Observatory’s statistical model to asses players’ transfer values can be found in this scientific article.

>>> Top 100

The 503rd CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks teams from 65 leagues around the world according to the percentage of domestic league minutes in the current season played by footballers aged 21 or under at the time of the matches. Among the seven teams having fielded U21 players for a majority of minutes notably are RC Strasbourg (4th, 59.4%) and RB Salzburg (5th, 55.3%).

Across all leagues, not including B-teams, the highest value was recorded for the Belgian side Lommel SK (69.4%), a club owned by City Group. The top three in the European big-5 are RC Strasbourg, FC Barcelona and Stade de Reims. Outside Europe, the three teams putting the most faith in young players are Uruguay’s River Plate, Colombia’s Envigado and Uzbekistan’s Sogdiana.

The Post also presents the percentage of minutes for the 22-25, 26-29 and 30 or over age categories. With 98.8% of league minutes played by footballers aged 25 or under at the time of the matches, BlueCo’s RC Strasbourg holds the world record for youth. The Demographic Atlas presents more data exclusively developed by the CIES Football Observatory for clubs from 50 leagues around the world.

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The CIES Football Observatory is delighted to announce a new partnership with the German data company Impect, a leader in the field of football analytics. This partnership will enable us to develop exclusive content for our website and social media, providing football fans with free analysis of an unrivalled level of sophistication on the performance of clubs and players around the world.

A first example is already available in the 502nd Weekly Post, which presents the 100 outfield players who have not yet turned 20 from 45 leagues outside the big-5 with the best values in terms of Impect PxT (Packing Expected Threat model), weighted by the sporting level of the matches played according to this method. The PxT measures the value of players’ actions in terms of increasing or decreasing the probability of scoring or conceding a goal.

Attacking midfielder Rodrigo Mora (Porto), who turns 18 in a few days’ time, is top of the table. The Portuguese is ahead of Argentinian Franco Mastantuono (River Plate) and his teammate Martim Fernandes. The Post also presents the estimated transfer values of the players in the top 100, with a maximum of €52.7 million for Jorrel Hato (Ajax). Only footballers who have played at least 450 minutes and 25% of domestic league playing time in the current season have been taken into account.

>>> Top 100

The 501st CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post compares 65 leagues around the world in terms of the tenure of coaches at the head of the teams currently managed. On average, three quarters of coaches have been in place for less than a year (75.3%). This percentage rises to 100% in the top divisions of Costa Rica, Ecuador and Mexico.

With 19 coaches in place for less than a year out of 20, Italian Serie A has the lowest rate of any of the European competitions analysed. The only exception is Inter coach Simone Inzaghi. In contrast, in the Dutch Eredivisie, 7 out of 18 coaches have been in charge of their team for a year or more, a record for Europe’s top divisions.

In terms of the average tenure at the head of the clubs managed, the figures range from 2 years and 67 days in the German Bundesliga to just 88 days in Costa Rica’s Primera División. The German record is partly due to the exceptional case of Frank Schmidt, who has been in charge of Heidenheim’s first team for almost 18 years. Diego Simeone (Atlético Madrid) and Brian Schmetzer (Seattle Sounders) round out the podium of longest-serving coaches.

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