The 495th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the world’s 100 best performing players from an attacking perspective in terms of their statistics in three areas of the game : take on, chance creation and finishing. Michael Olise tops the rankings with an average index of 88.5 in these three domains and a maximum value of 99 in chance creation.

The Bayern Munich’s French international is ahead of Barcelona’s Spaniard Lamine Yamal (87.7) and Bayer Leverkusen’s German Florian Wirtz (85.0). The top 10 also includes two Brazilians (Vinícius and Savinho), two Frenchmen (Ousmane Dembélé and Désiré Doué), an Englishman (Bukayo Saka), an Egyptian (Mohamed Salah) and a Dutchman (Noa Lang).

The latter is the top-ranked player active outside the big-5 European leagues. He is ahead of Estêvão Willian (Palmeiras, on loan from Chelsea) and Rodri Sánchez (Al-Arabi). The oldest players in the top 100 are Iago Aspas (Celta Vigo), Karim Benzema (Al-Ittihad) and Yacine Brahimi (Al-Gharafa). Only footballers who played at least 1,080 minutes during the current season were taken into account.

* This report provides more information on the CIES Football Observatory’s performance indices elaborated from Wyscout data.

>>> Top 100

Issue number 494 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 100 players from outside the big-5 European leagues whose transfer value has risen the most over the last six months. At the top of the list is Porto’s Spanish striker Samu Aghehowa, second top scorer in the Portuguese top flight, with an increase of €39 million (from €29.6m to €68.6m).

Palmeiras’ new Brazilian full international Estêvão Willian, owned by Chelsea, comes second with an increase of €30 million (from €30m to €60m). Benfica’s Spaniard Álvaro Carreras completes the podium (+€28m) ahead of teammate Tomás Araújo (+€25m). Three other players active in Portugal are in the top 10 (Conrad Harder, Geovany Quenda and Roger Fernandes), along with Antoni Milambo (Feyenoord), Jan-Carlo Simić (Anderlecht) and Mika Godts (Ajax).

All estimates have been calculated on the basis of a statistical model developed exclusively by the CIES Football Observatory research team, built on almost 10,000 paid transactions, as detailed in this scientific paper. This tool presents the best-valued players per team in 65 leagues worldwide. A paying platform with weekly valuations of over 30,000 players is also available for professionals in the game.

>>> Top 100

To celebrate its twenty years of existence and pay tribute to the clubs developing the talent that makes us love football, the CIES Football Observatory is very proud to present a study of the teams that have trained* the most players fielded in Europe’s big-5 over the last two decades. The top three are Real Madrid (166 players), Barcelona (156) and Paris St-Germain (111).

Olympique Lyonnais and Manchester United (both with 103 players) are at the foot of the podium, followed by Stade Rennais and Atalanta (94). Among the teams outside the big-5, the three having trained the most footballers who have played in the five major leagues since 2005/06 are Ajax (73 players), Sporting CP (64) and River Plate (51). Boca Juniors (49 players) and Benfica (45) are also in the top 5.

To celebrate twenty years of hard work, the CIES Football Observatory research team has also prepared a more in-depth study, published as the 99th Monthly Report, notably including details of the footballers trained by team and a map of all the big-5 clubs in which they have played. Enjoy the read and thank you for your interest!

* Training clubs are defined as the first teams where footballers have played for at least three years between the seasons of their fifteenth and twenty-first birthdays (seasons of these birthdays included).

>>> Weekly Post

>>> Monthly Report

Using technical data collected by our partners Wyscout, the CIES Football Observatory has developed various synthetic indices on a base of 100 to measure the level of performance of players in six areas of the game (more details here). This Weekly Post presents the hundred U23 midfielders from 46 leagues around the world with the highest values in ground defence (see below).

Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Rocco Reitz has the highest score. The German is ahead of another big-5 league player, Barcelona’s Spaniard Marc Casadó, and Genk’s Guinean Ibrahima Sory Bangoura. After a season in the reserve team, Bangoura is emerging as a potential transfer candidate to an even bigger club. Two other players from outside the big-5 are in the top 10: Amine Lachkar (Willem II) and Nick Fichtinger (Zwolle).

Tenth overall, Las Palmas’ Portuguese Dário Essugo (on loan from Sporting CP) has the highest score among players who have not yet celebrated their twentieth birthday. The three youngest players in the top 100 are Frenchmen Ayyoub Bouaddi (LOSC Lille) and Warren Zaïre-Emery (Paris St-Germain), as well as Swede Lucas Bergvall (Tottenham). Of the 46 leagues analysed, 32 are represented by at least one player in the top 100.

The ground defence index is calculated by adding up the defensive duels won by players below elbow height, pass interceptions and anticipations on loose balls (without clear possession) in relation to the average values measured at team and position level (on a pro rata basis of the different positions played). The value obtained is corrected by the success rate of ground duels undertaken and the sporting level of the matches played.

>>> Full rankings

The 491st CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the U25 players who are sportingly the most deserving for a senior national team debut. The rankings were established on the basis of a performance index* specifically designed by our research team using Wyscout data. They include the ten players with the highest performance scores from 50 nations around the world.

For the major nations, the following U25 non-full international footballers are considered the most deserving: Santiago Hezze (Olympiacos, Argentina), Jarne Steuckers (Genk, Belgium), Murillo (Nottingham Forest, Brazil), Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest, England), Hugo Ekitike (Eintracht Francort, France), Nico González (Manchester City, Spain), Yann Aurel Bisseck (Inter, Germany) and Marco Carnesecchi (Atalanta, Italy).

For all the players listed, the Post also presents the estimated transfer value according to the CIES Football Observatory’s statistical model, based on the assumption of an international debut. In this case, the five highest values were recorded for Jamie Gittens (England, €74.2m), Désiré Doué (France, €62.9m), Santiago Castro (Argentina, €60.5m), Archie Gray (England, €56.6m) and Dean Huijsen (Spain, €51.2 m)

* The index is based on the footballers’ playing time over the last year, the sporting level of the matches played and the players’ performances in six areas of the game (method here).

>>> Full data

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In the last two transfer windows, only one team has had a negative net spending* of more than €250 million: Brighton & Hove. Now firmly established in the Premier League, the English club recorded a deficit of €197 million during last summer and €56 million this winter. Premier League newly-promoted Ipswich Town and Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr round out the podium of the teams with the worst balance sheets. All the data is available free of charge here.

In the other European big-5 leagues, the biggest deficits were recorded by Atlético Madrid (-€116m) in Spain, AS Roma (-€111m) in Italy and Bayern Munich (-€63m) in Germany. Manchester City totalled the biggest win last summer (+€157m) and the greatest loss in the transfer window that has just ended (-€226m). In terms of spending, Brighton & Hove (€317m) are ahead of Chelsea (€310m) and Manchester City (€278m).

An English club tops the list also in terms of the most positive results: Leeds United (+€132m). Another team relegated from the Premier League with a squad featuring many young players highly rated on the transfer market ranks in the top three: Burnley FC (+€101m). RC Lens is second (+€106m), while Benfica (+€92m) and Porto (+€82m) are just off the podium.

* All figures include any add-ons regardless of their effective payment or receipt, as well as fees earned from sell-ons. Loans with a non-conditional obligation to buy have also been considered.

>>> Full data for the 100 clubs with the highest transfer fee volumes