England’s Jude Bellingham is currently the player in the world with the highest value on the transfer market. According to the CIES Football Observatory’s statistical model*, after a very successful first season at Real Madrid, with just a few days to go before the Champions League final, his fair price has now reached €280m**. Access the top 100 here.

Manchester City’s striker Erling Haaland is the second highest-valued player (€255m). The outstanding Norwegian goal scorer is ahead of Real Madrid’s Brazilian duo Vinícius Júnior (€241m) and Rodrygo Goes (€221m), as well as teammate Phil Foden (€204m). Also in the top ten are two Arsenal players (Bukayo Saka and Martin Ödegaard), a third Citizen (Julián Álvarez), Barcelona’s prodigy Lamine Yamal, and Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz.

In the other positions, Borussia Dortmund’s and Switzerland’s Gregor Kobel tops the table for goalkeepers, Arsenal’s Frenchman William Saliba for centre backs, Manchester City’s Croatian Joško Gvardiol for full backs and Real Madrid’s Uruguayan Federico Valverde for defensive midfielders. Endrick Felipe from Palmeiras (on loan from Real Madrid) has the top estimated transfer value among non-European based players (€92m).

* Built on around 5,500 paid transfers, the CIES Football Observatory’s statistical model explains more than 85% of the differences in the fees invested by clubs on the basis of criteria such as age, length of contract, minutes, the proportion of the latter as a starter, the sporting level of matches played, results, the economic strength of the player’s club and league, that of potential buyers, the level of inflation, etc.

** Estimates refer to 100% of transfer fees, including add-ons, with no consideration of eventual buy-out clauses.

Women’s football steadily grows and the process of professionalisation is continuing. Although still comparatively less available than for men, data on the demographic profile of female players is now more accessible for women too. The 96th Monthly Report of the CIES Football Observatory analyses the composition of 223 teams from 19 leagues around the world: 14 European and 5 non-European.

On average, the clubs studied played with footballers aged 25.2. Northern European teams are the most focused on using young female footballers, while two non-European leagues are the oldest: Brasileiro Feminino and the NWLS in the USA. The figures for today’s UEFA Champions League finalists are 27.2 years for Olympique Lyonnais and 25.9 years for Barcelona.

In terms of the main origins of expatriates, with 159 women footballers playing abroad in the leagues studied, the United States confirms its leadership in this field. Canadians and Swedes are also migrating in large numbers (60 expatriates in both cases). The wide range of origins involved (97 nationalities) bears witness to the geographical expansion of women’s football.

Clubs in financially stronger leagues tend to rely on more experienced players, as well as on more footballers imported from abroad. This is particularly the case for the English Women’s Super League, where the average age of players in the teams is 28.8 years, and where expatriates played 61.3% of the minutes. Olympique Lyonnais are at 51.1% and Barcelona at 27.3%. May the best team win!

>>> Full report

If you are not interested in our publications, you can unsubscribe through the link below.

Good squad planning is a key factor in the success of clubs. The 465th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks almost 800 clubs from 59 leagues around the world according to a continuity index that considers the stability of the squad, its age structure and the contract policy*. This allows us revealing the teams that are both the most stable and the best prepared to maintain a good level of stability in the seasons to come.

Arsenal tops the table ahead of another English team qualified for next season’s Champions League, Aston Villa, with Premier League winners Manchester City fourth. Germany’s Borussia Mönchengladbach are third, suggesting an improvement in performance after a disappointing 2023/24 season, provided the club does not decide to dramatically change its policy. City Football Group’s members New York City are fifth.

In the top ten positions of the rankings also are other clubs with an outstanding squad management policy such as English Premier League’s Brentford, the Belgians of Union St-Gilloise, German champions Bayer Leverkusen, the Ukrainians of Rukh Lviv and Spanish Liga’s Real Sociedad. At the opposite end of the table, we mainly find under-performing teams from leagues with a relatively low level of competitiveness.

* Stability is measured by the number of players fielded in the league over the last three seasons, age structure by the percentage of minutes in the current season by footballers aged 31 or over (excluding goalkeepers) and contract policy by the proportion of minutes by footballers whose contracts expire no later than the end of 2025. The continuity index is the average of the three variables indexed on a base of 100, with the maximum for the lowest turnover and the lowest dependence on ageing or short-contract players.

>>> All data

The 464th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the outfield footballers whose performances have had the greatest impact during the 2023/24 season in 54 leagues around the world. The impact score was calculated by taking into account players’ performances in six areas of the game, domestic league minutes and results. The highest value for any position was recorded for Manchester City’s Spaniard midfielder Rodri.

Another midfielder, Switzerland’s Granit Xhaka of German champions Bayer Leverkusen, comes second. For the other positions, the highest impact scores were measured for Portuguese Rúben Dias among centre backs, his teammate Kyle Walker among full backs, Germany’s Florian Wirtz among attacking midfielders, England’s Bukayo Saka among wingers, as well as Argentina’s Lautaro Martínez among centre forwards.

Outside the big-5, the highest impact values per position were measured for Olivier Boscagli of Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven for centre backs, Saud Abdulhamid of the Saudi side Al-Hilal for full backs, his teammate Sergej Milinković-Savić for defensive or central midfielders, Rafa Silva of Benfica for attacking midfielders, Johan Bakayoko of PSV for wingers, as well as Viktor Gyökeres of Sporting CP for strikers.

>>> Top 100 overall & top 20 per league

Issue number 95 of the CIES Football Observatory’s Monthly Report presents the migration trends observed over the last five years in 135 men’s leagues spread across 88 national associations around the world. A new record in the presence of expatriate footballers was recorded in 2024. Since 2020, their number has risen by almost 20%.

The import of players from abroad is a phenomenon that now concerns a greater number of clubs and leagues around the world. Player mobility is increasingly taking place through transnational transfer networks, not just for the most talented footballers, but also for players at lower levels of professional football.

In particular, we are seeing an increase in the migration of players from more competitive associations to less developed footballing countries: the French to Luxembourg and Switzerland, the Argentines to Peru and Chile, the Brazilians to South Korea and the United States, the Croats to Bosnia, the English to Scotland, the Germans to Austria, and so on.

Three countries stand out as the main exporters of players: Brazil, France and Argentina. While Brazilians remain the most represented abroad, over the last five years their numbers have grown much less (+86 expatriates) than those of the last two world champions: France (+273) and Argentina (+220).

>>> Full study

The 463rd CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks attacking players (wingers and centre forwards) in 30 leagues around the world according to the amount of defensive work performed. The latter was measured using an index* taking into account two variables: the distance covered at high speed (>25 km/h) in the defensive phase (SkillCorner data) and the number of pressures exerted on opponents without physical or ball contact (Wyscout data).

The highest score overall was recorded for the South Korean striker Heung-Min Son, with a particularly strong value in terms of distance covered at high speed out of possession. At Europe’s big-5 league level, Son is ahead of another Tottenham player, the Brazilian Richarlison, which reflects the strong commitment in the defensive phase that Spurs’ coach Ange Postecoglou demands from strikers, and perhaps explains the recent dip in performance.

Germany’s Johannes Eggestein of second-ranked Zweite Bundesliga’s St. Pauli tops the list in the second divisions of big-5 league countries, Costa Rican Manfred Ugalde (Twente, transferred to Spartak Moscow in January) in the non-big-5 European leagues, with the highest value overall in terms of pressures exerted on opponents, as well as Mexico’s Ricardo Marín (Chivas Guadalajara) in the non-European leagues analysed.

*The index was calculated on a 100 basis from the average of the values recorded for the two variables taken into account, themselves projected on a 100 basis. Only footballers who played at least 1,200 domestic league minutes during the current season were included in the rankings.

>>> Full data

Issue 462 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the territorial anchorage of almost 1,000 teams in 58 leagues around the world from the point of view of the proportion of national players and club-trained footballers among those fielded in the domestic league over the last year*. The territorial anchorage index reflects the gap from the general average for these two variables, with a maximum score for Athletic Club (100% of nationals and 62% of ‘trained’).

The Basques outrank Colombia’s Envigado and four other Latin American teams: Mexico’s Chivas Guadalajara, Argentina’s Gimnasia La Plata, Venezuela’s Caracas and Uruguay’s Defensor. Ukraine’s Dynamo Kyiv are the only other European team in the top 10, along with another Argentinian club (Club Estudiantes), another Colombian team (Millonarios) and Egypt’s ENPPI.

The teams with the deepest territorial anchorage from the standpoint of the profile of players fielded for the other major leagues are Newcastle United in the Premier League (with Wolverhampton at the other end), Empoli in Serie A (Udinese at the bottom), Heidenheim in the Bundesliga (RB Leipzig last), Le Havre in Ligue 1 (Olympique Marseille at the other extreme), as well as Vitória SC in the Primeira Liga and Fluminense in the Brasileirão.

*National players are defined as those who have grown up in the association of their home club, while club-trained footballers are those who have played for at least three seasons between the ages of 15 and 21 in their club of employment (non-nationals excluded). The data refer to the last year or, for a few minor leagues and newly-promoted clubs, to the current season.

>>> Data for all clubs

The 461st CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 100 players in the world who have not yet celebrated their 20th birthday having accumulated the most playing experience* during the last year. The highest ’experience capital’ score was recorded for Benfica’s midfielder João Neves. The Portuguese international has played no less than 4,905 official game minutes, of which 97% as a starter, at an excellent level over the last 365 days.

João Neves is ahead of another international midfielder, Frenchman Warren Zaïre-Emery (Paris St-Germain), with Manchester United’s Argentinian Alejandro Garnacho ranking third. Another French player, LOSC Lille’s Leny Yoro, is in the top five, behind the Spanish and FC Barcelona’s prodigy Lamine Yamal. Three other top-level talents from the Catalan club feature in the top 100: Pablo Gavi, Pau Cubarsí and Vitor Roque. Brighton & Hove is the only other team represented by four players.

Footballers from 32 leagues rank in the top 100, with a maximum of 10 for the English Premier League, followed by the Spanish Liga (9) and the Belgian Pro League (8). Five players who have yet to turn 18 figure in the table: Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsí, Independiente del Valle’s Kendry Páez (already signed by Chelsea), Palmeiras Endrick Felipe (already signed by Real Madrid) and Newcastle United’s Lewis Miley.

* The playing experience over the last year has been calculated on a 100 basis by weighting the minutes played in official club (senior only) or national team matches (A and U21) according to their sporting level using the method described in this note.

>>> Top 100

Issue number 460 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks 30 leagues around the world according to a ’fast runs’ index based on three physical variables produced exclusively by SkillCorner: sprints, speed and accelerations*. Taking the average value of the scores measured for each team projected on a 100 basis, the English Premier League and Championship top the rankings.

Italy’s Serie A completes the podium just ahead of the Dutch Eredivisie, with the Swiss Super League in fifth place. The Brasileirão is the only non-European league of the seven analysed in the top 10 (ninth) with a value very close to those measured in the Portuguese Primeira Liga, the French Ligue 1 and the Spanish Liga. Mexico’s Liga MX, Italy’s Serie B and Argentina’s Primera División come bottom.

By club, the highest values were recorded for Chelsea, ahead of Tottenham and six other English clubs, including Liverpool, Manchester United and Championship’s Leicester City. The top ’fast runs’ indices for the other leagues in Europe’s big-5 were measured for Rayo Vallecano in the Liga, Bayern Munich (ahead of Bayer Leverkusen) in Bundesliga, RC Strasbourg (ahead of PSG) in Ligue 1, as well as Sassuolo in Serie A.

>>> All data

>>> Follow us for more analysis (X, Instagram, Facebook, Threads)

* The variables taken into account are the frequency of high-speed runs (≥25 km/h for ≥0.7’’), the average maximum speeds reached by players and the frequency of their accelerations (>=10.8km/h/s for ≥0.7’’). The index is computed on a scale from 0 to 100 basis at team level from the standard score measured for each variable.

The CIES Football Observatory’s April report presents the exclusive approach developed on the basis of Wyscout data to identify the best performing outfield players in six areas of the game: ground defence, aerial play, distribution, take on, chance creation and finishing. The rankings refer to domestic league matches played during the last 365 days in 73 competitions worldwide.

The best index for ground defence was recorded for the Italian centre back Alessandro Buongiorno (Torino), followed by Chelsea’s Spaniard Marc Cucurella. In terms of aerial play, at centre back level, the Dutchman Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) is ahead of Dan-Axel Zagadou (Stuttgart) from France. With regard to distribution, Toni Kroos (Real Madrid) and Granit Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen) share the top spot.

Concerning take on, the Belgian Jérémy Doku (Manchester City) is ahead of the new Portuguese full international Francisco Conceição (Porto). In terms of chance creation, Ousmane Dembélé (Paris St-Germain) tops the table ahead of another world champion, Rodrigo de Paul (Atlético Madrid). Regarding finishing, the podium is made up of Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Deniz Undav (Stuttgart) and Kylian Mbappé (Paris St-Germain).

>>> Methodology and full data

Issue number 459 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the world’s top 100 players who have not yet turned 23 and whose transfer value* has increased the most over the last six months. Barcelona’s and Spain’s 16-year-old prodigy Lamine Yamal tops the list with an increase of €134m (from €11m to €145m).

Benfica’s Portuguese João Neves (+€72m) and Girona’s new Brazilian full international Sávio Moreira (+€70m) complete the podium. Other promising youngsters in the top positions include England’s and Chelsea’s Cole Palmer (fourth), Brazil’s and Palmeiras (on loan from Real Madrid) Endrick Felipe (sixth), as well as Belgium’s and Manchester City’s outstanding winger Jérémy Doku (seventh).

Players from 12 leagues and 55 clubs feature in the top 100 rankings, with a maximum of 29 footballers from the English Premier League, followed by the Spanish Liga (17), the German Bundesliga (14) and the French Ligue 1 (11). Brighton & Hove Albion is the most represented club in the top 100 (6 players), followed by Chelsea, Tottenham, Ajax and Eintracht Frankfurt (4 footballers).

*Estimated according to CIES Football Observatory statistical model.

>>> Top 100

The 458th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights the teams in 61 leagues around the world having fielded U21 footballers* for the highest percentage of minutes in the domestic league matches played over the last 365 days. Two excellent training clubs from Eastern Europe top the list: Ukraine’s Rukh Lviv (52.2%) and Slovakia’s MŠK Žilina (44.5%).

The Post also presents the rankings for the age limits ranging from U19 to U23 players. The top-ranked clubs for each of these age thresholds in the five major European leagues are Toulouse for the U19s, Barcelona for the U20s (ahead of Brighton & Hove), Strasbourg for the U21s and U22s, as well as Frosinone for the U23s (ahead of Chelsea).

Among the clubs from the 24 non-European leagues analysed, the highest values were recorded for Australia’s Adelaide United at U19 and U20 levels, Colombia’s Envigado for U21 players, as well as Fortaleza CEIF for U22s and U23s. Developed exclusively by the CIES Football Observatory, this Demographic Atlas provides access to many indicators on the composition of the squads of clubs in 31 top divisions of UEFA associations.

* Players who had not yet celebrated their 21st birthday at the time of the match.

>>> All the data