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.

>>> Full data

Thirteen years after the first issue, the CIES Football Observatory research team is very proud to present its 500th Weekly Post ! For the occasion, we highlight the footballers born in 2001 or later who have played the most official matches in senior competitions since the start of their careers, by year of birth.

With no fewer than 379 official matches at senior competition level, Rodrygo (Real Madrid) ranks first among players born in 2001. The following footballers have accumulated the most appearances for the other years of birth : Eduardo Camavinga (2002), Jude Bellingham (2003), Ângelo Gabriel (2004), Vitor Roque (2005), Endrick Felipe (2006), as well as Lamine Yamal (2007 onwards).

The Post also presents the average number of games per year since the start of the player’s career. With an average of 59.7 games per year since his debut, Lamine Yamal leads all years of birth combined. The Barcelona prodigy is ahead of Pau Cubarsì (59.0) and João Neves (55.0). By year of birth, the leaders are Jason Knight (2001), Joško Gvardiol (2002), Jude Bellingham (2003), João Neves (2004), Malick Fofana (2005), Jorrel Hato (2006) and Lamine Yamal (2007 onwards).

>>> All the data

>>> All the studies

The 499th Weekly Post presents the 100 best performing goalkeepers in the world over the past year, according to an index on a scale of 100 specifically devised by the CIES Football Observatory*. The top three are Paris St-Germain’s Italian Gianluigi Donnarumma, Inter’s Swiss Yann Sommer and Real Madrid’s Belgian Thibaut Courtois.

Two players from outside the big-5 European leagues feature in the top ten : 23-year-old Russian Stanislav Agkatsev (FK Krasnodar) and Brazilian veteran João Ricardo (Fortaleza EC). They also are the two goalkeepers in the top 10 whose percentage of saves as per Wyscout data most exceeded expectations with respect to the goals conceded by their teams.

On average, the goalkeepers in the top 100 are 29.9 years old, with a high of 41.4 years for Remko Pasveer (AFC Ajax) and lows of 20.1 years for Ármin Pécsi (Puskás Akadémia) and 20.8 years for Slawomir Abramowicz (Jagiellonia Bialystok). Agkatsev aside, only one player who has not yet turned 26 ranks in the top twenty : Djordje Petrović (RC Strasbourg, on loan from Chelsea).

* The index is based on the sporting level of matches played according to this methodology, the results of the games, as well as the deviation in the percentage of saves at domestic league level compared to the expected value given the defensive strength of employer teams. Only goalkeepers with a positive gap on this last criterion feature in the ranking (minimum 20 league matches over the last 365 days).

>>> Top 100

The 498th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks more than 900 clubs in 55 leagues worldwide according to a territorial anchorage index calculated from the proportion of national players and club-trained nationals among those fielded in the domestic league over the last year*. The Colombians of Envigado lead the way with 93.8% nationals and 54.2% club-trained nationals.

The Basques of Athletic Club and the Ukrainians of Dynamo Kyiv complete the podium, while the third highest-ranked European team, CA Osasuna, is only seventeenth. Latin American teams are over-represented among the most locally anchored ones. Paraguay’s Club Libertad are fourth, ahead of Mexico’s Chivas Guadalajara and Colombia’s Millonarios Bogota.

Another Colombian club (Atlético Nacional), two Argentinians (CA Belgrano and Vélez Sarsfield) and one Venezuelan (Caracas FC) also are in the top ten. For Asian clubs, the podium is made up of Sanfrecce Hiroshima (23rd), Uzbekistan’s FC Nasaf (24th) and another Japanese team : Kashiwa Reysol (28th). Adelaide United tops the table for Australia and Seattle Sounders for the MLS.

* Nationals are players who have grown up in the association of their home club, while club-trained nationals are those who have played for at least three seasons between the ages of 15 and 21 in their club of employment. The index is calculated on the basis of the gap from the general average for these two variables. Data refer to the last year or, for a few newly-promoted clubs, to the current season.

>>> All data

>>> Last year rankings

In this Weekly Post, the CIES Football Observatory analyses the differences observed over the last year between 63 leagues worldwide in terms of referees’ propensity to hand out penalty cards for fouls. Referees in Japan’s top two divisions are the least likely to issue cards for fouls (around one penalty card every ten fouls), while the opposite is true in Chile and Colombia (around one card every five fouls).

These gaps reflect both different degrees of severity in refereeing styles and discrepancies in the tendency of players to commit gross fouls. The Latin American leagues stand out for their harsh refereeing styles and the propensity of footballers to play violently, with the two phenomena feeding off each other, in contrast to Asia, where referees are less severe and players more disciplined.

The Post also presents the proportion of cards issued for fouls, with a maximum of 93.2% in the Ukrainian Premier League and a minimum of 59.2% in the Bolivian Primera División, where disputes and other forms of indiscipline are commonplace. The latter situation was also observed in the Brazilian Serie A (only 60.7% of penalty cards handed out for fouls), as well as in the top two tiers of Turkish football.

>>> Full data

The 496th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks the teams of 37 leagues around the world according to the percentage of ‘minutes secured’, i.e. the share of the current season’s domestic league minutes played by footballers still under contract with a duration beyond the year 2026. Chelsea tops the list with 91.8% of minutes secured.

Monaco (91.3% of minutes secured) and AZ Alkmaar (89.2%) complete the podium of teams whose squad planning is most likely to bring stability in the coming years or, in the event of transfers, to generate substantial capital gains. Spain’s Real Sociedad (88.4%) and France’s Paris St-Germain also are in the top five positions.

The latter team has the highest value among UEFA’s Champions League quarter-finalists, ahead of another club well prepared for the future: Arsenal (85.8%). AZ Alkmaar aside, two other teams outside the five major European leagues feature in the top ten: Russia’s Zenit St. Petersburg and England Championship’s Coventry City.

>>> Data for all teams in the 37 leagues

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

>>> Any organisation interested in our services is invited to contact us to find out more about all the possible applications of the multiple procedures developed.

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

Issue number 489 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post forecasts the results up to the end of the season of teams in 42 leagues around the world according to their performance level. The latter was measured on the basis of a statistical model including the number and location of the passes and shots made and conceded so far by teams (Wyscout data), regardless of the results obtained.

In the five major European leagues, the best progress in terms of points per match should come from Toulouse and Monaco in Ligue 1 (with Auxerre and Strasbourg at the opposite end), Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga (RB Leipzig at the opposite), Cagliari and Como in Serie A (Empoli at the opposite), Tottenham and Manchester City in the Premier League (Newcastle at the opposite), as well as Girona and Getafe in La Liga (Leganés at the opposite).

Across all leagues, the greatest positive gaps between the points per match achieved so far and those predicted up until the season end were measured for Bulgaria’s CSKA Sofia (+0.66), United Arab Emirates’ Al-Wasl FC (+0.54) and Cyprus’ APOEL FC (+0.5). Conversely, Serbia’s FK Mladost (-0.62), the Emiratis of Ittihad Kalba (-0.52) and Saudi Arabia’s Al-Riyadh SC (also -0.52) are expected to experience the biggest drops in form.

>>> Full data

The 488th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 100 players who have scored the most goals in official club or national team matches (senior, U23 or U21) over the last year. Sporting CP’s Swede Viktor Gyökeres is clearly at the top of the list with no fewer than 64 goals: 54 for his club and 10 at national team level.

Erling Haaland (Manchester City and Norway) and Harry Kane (Bayern Munich and England) complete the podium with 52 and 47 goals respectively. In terms of goal frequency, the top three are Irishman Garbhan Coughlan of Cashmere Technical in New Zealand (one goal every 43 minutes), Japan’s Tomoyuki Doi of Geylang United in Singapore, and Uruguay’s Martín Cauteruccio of Sporting Cristal in Peru.

The Post also presents the rankings for the last two and three years. Over the last two years, nobody has scored more goals than Erling Haaland (101), while Kylian Mbappé tops the last-three-year list with 147 goals. The youngest player in last year’s top 100 is the Spaniard Chupete (Atlético Malagueño), while the evergreen Cristiano Ronaldo (Al-Nassr and Portugal) is the oldest.

>>> Full data

The 487th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the U23 players not yet in Europe’s big-5 who are most ready to take the next step in their careers. The selection is based on an index considering the footballers’ playing time over the last year, the sporting level of matches played, as well as their performances in six game areas (Wyscout data).

Sporting CP’s Belgian full international Zeno Debast tops the table with an index of 87.5 out of 100. Another centre back, PSV Eindhoven’s Dutchman Ryan Flamingo, ranks second, while his teammate Malik Tillman (86.2) round up the podium. Ukrainian Georgiy Sudakov (Shakhtar Donetsk) is fourth, ahead of Portugal’s Álvaro Carreras (Benfica). Sixth-placed Brazilian Wesley França (Flamengo) is the top-ranked player outside Europe.

The Post presents the overall top 100, as well as the ten highest-ranked players in 60 leagues worldwide. The following footballers head the rankings in their respective league: Christos Tzolis (Belgium), Manfred Ugalde (Russia), Mario Mitaj (Saudi Arabia), Martin Vitík (Czech Republic), Oscar Gloukh (Austria), Victor Guzmán (Mexico), Thiago Fernández (Argentina) and Semih Kiliçsoy (Turkey). For all players, the Post also unveils the estimated transfer value.

>>> Full data

>>> More information on the technical analysis of performance

>>> Scientific paper on the statistical model for transfer estimates

The CIES Football Observatory is the world leader in the scientific evaluation of professional players’ transfer values. Issue number 486 of the Weekly Post presents the 100 best-valued footballers in the world today. Englishman Jude Bellingham, under contract with Real Madrid until 2029, tops the list with a value of €251 million.

Manchester City’s Norwegian Erling Haaland (€221m) and Real Madrid’s Brazilian Vinícius Júnior (€206m) complete the podium despite contracts extending only until 2027. Fourth-placed Spaniard Lamine Yamal (€180m) is tied to his club for even less time (June 2026), which would facilitate a possible departure from Barcelona. Now aged 26, despite a contract with Real Madrid until 2029, Kylian Mbappé’s transfer value (€175m) is only the fifth-highest.

Three Premier League players, England’s Bukayo Saka, Cole Palmer and Phil Foden, one from the Bundesliga, Germany’s Florian Wirtz, and a fourth Real Madrid footballer, Brazil’s Rodrygo, also feature in the top 10. The highest value for goalkeepers was recorded for Bart Verbruggen (Brighton & Hove), while Joško Gvardiol (Manchester City) tops the list for defenders and Viktor Gyökeres (Sporting CP) for players from outside the big-5.

>>> Top 100

>>> Best-valued player per club in 65 leagues worldwide

>>> Scientific paper on the CIES Football Observatory method

Thanks to the collaboration with Wyscout, the CIES Football Observatory has developed a robust and innovative method for comparing player performance. This report presents the footballers from 65 leagues around the world born in 2004 or later with the best performance index in the current or last completed season for the leagues alredy finished.

The performance index used to establish rankings is calculated on a 100-basis from player activity in six areas of the game: ground defence, aerial play, distribution, chance creation, take on and finishing. This other study details the methodology exclusively developed to measure performance in each of these areas.

The scouting report presents the 20 best performing young footballers for 20 categories defined according to players’ main position and technical characteristics. For each player, we alspo present his estimated transfer value according to the exclusive CIES Football Observatory statistical model. At the top of the list in their respective categories are:

Goalkeepers: Guillaume Restes (Toulouse) and Rome Jayden Owusu-Oduro (AZ Alkmaar).

Centre backs: Abdukodir Khusanov (Lens), Pau Cubarsí (Barcelona) and Taras Mykhavko (Dynamo Kyiv).

Full/wing backs: Jorrel Hato (Ajax), Malick Diouf (Slavia Prague), Oliver Braude (Heerenveen), Martim Fernandes (Porto) and Geovany Quenda (Sporting CP).

Midfielders: Warren Zäire-Emery (Paris St-Germain), Aleksandar Pavlović (Bayern Munich), João Neves (Paris St-Germain), Kendry Paez (Independente del Valle) and Aleksey Batrakov (Lokomotiv Moskow).

Wingers: Kenan Yildiz (Juventus), Thiago Fernández (Vélez Sarsfield), Lamine Yamal (Barcelona) and Arda Güler (Real Madrid).

Centre forwards: Samu Aghehowa (Porto) and Kauã Elias (Fluminense).

>>> Top 20s per category (update if the file is not displayed)

The 485th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 20 outfield footballers in 66 leagues around the world who played the most official game minutes in 2024, either for clubs (at senior level only) or national teams (A, U23 or U21). Up to December 15, the most-used outfield player in absolute terms is FC Barcelona’s French international Jules Koundé: 5,872 minutes spread over 69 matches.

Fluminense’s Colombian Jhon Arias and Real Madrid’s Uruguayan Federico Valverde complete the podium. The next three places are occupied by players over the age of 30: Dutchman Virgil van Dijk (33.4), Argentina’s Nicolás Otamendi (36.8) and Switzerland’s Granit Xhaka (32.2). Reading FC’s New Zealander Tyler Bindon is the only footballer under the age of 20 in the top 100, demonstrating the sensitivity of coaches when it comes to balancing the efforts of younger players.

Also with respect to the top 100 outfield players overall, a clear majority of minutes were played in domestic club competitions: 73.2% of the total. The remaining playing time spread almost equally between international club competitions and national teams: 15.1% for the former and 13.4% for the latter (including the Olympic Games). These reports provide more exclusive analysis on the hot topics of match calendar and player workload.

>>> Top 20 per league

The 484th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks clubs worldwide according to the monetary balance of transfer transactions concerning non-academy players signed since 2015 and no longer owned by the club. The figures presented include any add-ons regardless of whether they have actually been paid or received, as well as revenues generated through sell-on clauses.

LOSC Lille has the most positive result, with €234m spent over the last decade on players no longer owned by the club, compared with €617m of revenues and a balance sheet of +€384 million. The French outfit are ahead of the Dutch side of Ajax (+€289m) and the Germans of RB Leipzig (+€288m). Three other clubs recorded a positive balance of over €200m: Eintracht Frankfurt, Atalanta and Benfica.

Another French club has had the worst trading record of the last decade: Paris St-Germain. The team from the capital has a deficit of €646 million, almost half of which is linked to the transfers of Kylian Mbappé (-€180m) and Neymar (-€122m). Two English teams also totalled a deficit in excess of €500 million: Manchester United (-€584m, maximum loss of €110m for Paul Pogba) and Chelsea (-€580m, maximum loss of €70m for Romelu Lukaku).

>>> Full data

Issue number 483 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post compares 144 men’s senior national teams in terms of the average age of line-ups fielded in 2024. Values range from a high of 30.38 years of age for Peru (ahead of Iran) to a low of 23.05 years of age for the Cayman Islands (ahead of Puerto Rico).

At UEFA member association level, the three men’s national A-teams having fielded the oldest players on average were Montenegro (28.94 years of age), Slovakia (28.92) and Switzerland (28.79). In contrast, the lowest values were recorded for San Marino (24.31 years of age), Northern Ireland (24.39) and Estonia (25.82).

The Post also presents the percentage of minutes by age group. Players aged 21 or under at the time of the matches played up to 14.5% minutes for European champions Spain. Worldwide, this proportion is around 10%. At confederation level, the lowest percentage of minutes by U21 players was recorded in South America (about 7%).

>>> Full data

The 482nd CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 100 players under the age of 20 (as of 27 November) with the most playing experience* in 2024, while having played fewer than 900 official game minutes at senior level in the previous year. Despite being just 17.8 years old, Barcelona’s centre back Pau Cubarsí tops the list.

England’s Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United) and Argentina’s Julio Soler (CA Lanús) complete the young revelations’ podium. They are ahead of Brazilian Estêvão Willian (Palmeiras, owned by Chelsea) and Turkey’s Semih Kiliçsoy (Beşiktaş JK). Belgium’s Konstantinos Karetsas (KRC Genk) is the youngest player listed, ahead of Ayyoub Bouaddi (LOSC Lille), Gabriel Carvalho (SC Internacional), Franco Mastantuono (River Plate) and Chris Rigg (Sunderland AFC).

No fewer than 38 leagues are represented in the top 100, with a maximum of 11 players from the Brazilian Serie A, followed by eight in the Argentinian top flight. The highest experience value of any player under the age of 20 was recorded for Lamine Yamal. However, the Spanish prodigy was already an established professional in 2023. More complete rankings are accessible on request.

* Projected on a basis of 100, the experience score takes into account the minutes played in official matches at senior level in 2024, weighted by the sporting level of the games and the results. More information on the exclusive CIES Football Observatory methodology is available in this note.

>>> Top 100

While a consultation was opened following the regulatory changes requested by the Court of Justice of the European Union in the context of the ‘Diarra’ case, the 481st CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the financial statements* of the transfer operations carried out over the last decade by the clubs of the world’s main leagues.

The analysis highlights the Premier League’s unique status as a provider of funds for teams around the world. The clubs in England’s top flight have indeed accumulated a net deficit of €11.6 billion over the last ten years, far more than the two other leagues with the most negative balance sheets: the Saudi Pro League (-€1.8 billion) and Italy’s Serie A (-€1.5 billion).

In contrast, the Portuguese Primeira Liga is the competition whose clubs have financially most benefited from transfer deals over the last ten years (+€2.4 billion), ahead of the Dutch Eredivisie, the Brasileirão and the English Championship (all around +€1.5 billion). Any future drop in transfer fees could therefore mainly affect teams in these leagues.

* The figures published include fixed transfer fees, any add-ons regardless of whether they have actually been paid, as well as sums paid in the context of paying loans. Within the limits of available information, the data on beneficiaries considers sell-on fees negotiated by previous clubs.

>>> Full data

>>> More data, including for clubs, in this report

The 480th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the Wyscout data on shots taken and conceded from the danger zone (the central rectangle of the penalty area) by teams in 63 leagues around the world. With 6.9 more shots from this zone attempted than conceded per game, former Rúben Amorim and Portugal’s Sporting CP have the best record in absolute terms.

As for the European big-5, the most positive gaps were recorded for Manchester City in the Premier League (with Leicester City last), Barcelona in La Liga (Real Valladolid at the opposite end), Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga (Bochum at the other extreme), Monaco in Ligue 1 (Montpellier at the bottom) and Atalanta in Italy (Monza in last position).

The Post also presents the difference between points achieved and expected according to a statistical model built on the basis of the difference in shots taken and conceded from the danger zone per match and club. The most positive gap in absolute terms was measured for Scotland’s Aberdeen (1.58 more points per game than expected according to shooting statistics), which reflects above-standard efficiency and may foreshadow a decline in performance.

>>> Full data

>>> More performance stats

The Weekly Post number 479 presents the 100 players in the world who have not yet celebrated their 21st birthday with the highest transfer value according to the CIES Football Observatory statistical model. The Spanish prodigy Lamine Yamal (Barcelona, €180.9m*) outranks Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United, €114.8m) and Warren Zaïre-Emery (Paris St-Germain, €109.0m). A fourth youngster is valued at over €100 million: Sávio Moreira (Manchester City, €101.0m).

In defensive positions, Guillaume Restes (Toulouse, €28.8m) tops the list for goalkeepers, Lucas Beraldo (Paris St-Germain, €70.3m) for centre backs and Rico Lewis (Manchester City, €87.2m) for full/wing backs. Three other U18 players in addition to Yamal feature in the top 100: Ecuadorian Kendry Paez (Independiente del Valle, on loan from Chelsea), Brazilian Estevão Willian (Palmeiras, also on loan from Chelsea) and Spaniard Pau Cubarsí (Barcelona).

Seventeen leagues are represented in the top 100, with a maximum of 26 players for the Premier League, followed by Ligue 1 (17) and La Liga (12). In terms of the clubs to which top-ranked footballers belong, Brighton & Hove (6 players) are ahead of Chelsea, Paris St-Germain and Barcelona (4). This open access and peer reviewed scientific paper details the methodology used to determine fair prices for professional football players worldwide.

* All figures mentioned include eventual add-ons and refer to 100% of transfer rights.

>>> Top 100 U21 players

>>> Click here to see the estimates for the best-valued players per club.

The 478th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks football clubs and academies worldwide according to their ability to train top-level players. Portugal’s Benfica top the list, both for the number of footballers trained* playing in 49 top divisions around the world, and with respect to the training index, a metric that weights the numerical presence of players trained by their sporting level**.

On a global scale, Benfica (94 players trained for a training index of 103.7) are ahead of Argentina’s Boca Juniors (93; 102.2) and Barcelona (81; 98.6). The Catalans come out on top when only players currently active in the European big-5 are considered (46 players; 58.6), ahead of Real Madrid (34; 44.0) and Paris St-Germain (35; 39.5). Regarding footballers playing in the 30 main European leagues, the best training index was measured for Ajax.

The players included in the sample had to be present on October 1st 2024 in the first team squad of clubs in the following 49 leagues and have played domestic league matches up to that date. If this was not the case, they had to have played at adult level (not including B teams) in each of the two previous seasons. Second or third choice goalkeepers were considered in all cases.

>>> All rankings

* Training clubs are the first teams in which footballers have played for at least three years between the seasons of their 15th and 21st birthdays (inclusive).

** The sporting level of players is computed by considering all official game minutes played at senior level during the last year, weighted by the sporting coefficient of matches according to this methodology.

The 477th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post compares clubs in 49 leagues around the world according to the average age at which the players in their current squad were signed (not including youth academy graduates). Two BlueCo clubs are among the four big-5 league teams most focused on young players: RC Strasbourg (1st, 21.8 years) and Chelsea FC (4th, 22.5 years).

Four Red Bull teams are also among the teams recruiting the youngest players on average: RB Salzburg (3rd overall behind MŠK Žilina and Rukh Lviv), RB Leipzig (3rd in Europe’s big-5 behind Strasbourg and Brentford), as well New York RB and RB Bragantino (1st and 2nd among clubs from the 19 non-European championships surveyed).

Several teams taking part in the Champions League are among those most focused on recruiting young talent, such as Shakhtar Donetsk, Sturm Graz, Real Madrid, Monaco, Stuttgart, Paris-St-Germain and Sporting CP. In contrast, teams such as Inter, Atlético Madrid and Girona focus primarily on signing experienced players.

>>> Full data

The 476th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the top 50 players in take on area, both in the European big-5 and in 60 other leagues around the world. The top three for the five major European championships is made up of Mohammed Kudus (West Ham), Iliman Ndiaye (Everton) and Nuno Tavares (Lazio).

With regard to the 60 other leagues included in the analysis, the highest values were recorded for São Paulo’s Brazilian Ferreira, Malmö’s Swede Taha Ali and Gremio’s Venezuelan Yeferson Soteldo. The youngest players in the rankings are Yamine Lamal for the big-5 (17.2 years) and Estêvão Willian (Palmeiras) for the other leagues (17.5 years).

The take on index is computed on a scale of 100 from the frequency of successful dribbles achieved by players, corrected by their success rate (Wyscout data). A dribble is considered successful when the team of the player who attempted it maintains possession by approaching the opponent’s goal or when the dribbler is fouled. The data refer to the current season’s domestic league matches. Only footballers who played at least 360’ have been included in the rankings.

The 475th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 100 clubs worldwide whose footballers under contract have the highest aggregate transfer value (including players on loan to other teams). With a squad featuring many young stars bound by long-term contracts, Real Madrid clearly leads the way with the highest aggregate transfer value ever recorded for a football club: €1.728 billion.

Manchester City ranks second, with an ’owned-players’ valuation of €1.471 billion. Another English club, Chelsea FC, is third: €1.388 billion. Despite recent results that have not always lived up to expectations, the Londoners have a squad that is both rich in numbers and young talented players tied by long-term contracts. In terms of the average value of players owned, Real Madrid are in first place, followed by three English clubs (Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool).

The estimates were calculated on the basis of a statistical model developed exclusively by the CIES Football Observatory, using a methodology explained in this peer-reviewed paper recently published in the International Journal of Financial Studies. The estimated transfer values of the best-valued player by club in over 60 leagues worldwide are available free of charge in this online tool.

The 474th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the top 50 creators of chances in today world football, both in the Europe’s big-5 and in 60 other leagues around the globe, according to an exclusively developed index (see below). The top Portuguese talent João Neves (Paris St-Germain) outranks the iconic Lionel Messi (Inter Miami).

For the five major European leagues, João Neves is ahead of Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Romano Schmid (Werder Bremen) and Lamine Yamal (Barcelona). At the level of the other 60 leagues included in the analysis, two Spaniards rank after Lionel Messi: Iñigo Vicente (Racing de Santander) and Riqui Puig (Los Angeles Galaxy). The youngest players in the top 50s are Lamine Yamal and Kenan Yildiz for the big-5, as well as Kendry Páez (Independiente del Valle, on loan from Chelsea) for the other leagues.

The chance creation index is calculated on a scale of 100 by adding the frequency of passes leading to a goal or a clear chance, passes made to the assistman (second assist), as well as passes breaking the opposition’s defensive line received by a teammate (Wyscout). More explanations in this Monthly Report. The data refer to the current season’s domestic league matches. Only footballers who played at least 360’ have been included in the rankings.

>>> Full rankings

The 473rd CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents SkillCorner data on the midfielders with the best statistics for keeping the ball in high-pressure situations* in 18 European top divisions, the Brasileirão and Mexico’s Liga MX. Bayern Munich’s German full international Joshua Kimmich tops the list among midfielders who have been confronted with at least 60 high-pressure situations during the current season.

Torino’s Italian international Samuele Ricci and Tigres UANL’s Brazilian Rafael Carioca complete the top three. Three players who have not yet turned 21 feature in the top ten: two from the Danish side Nordsjælland (Ivory Coast’s Mario Dorgeles and Denmark’s Zidan Sertdemir), as well as Paris St-Germain’s French prodigy Warren Zaïre-Emery. The youngest player in the top 100 is Tijuana’s great Mexican talent Gilberto Mora (15.9 years, 43rd).

By team, the highest values were recorded for Manchester City (84.4%), Juventus (83.8%) and Shakhtar Donetsk (83.7%). These are all clubs that attack collectively, which makes the task of players carrying the ball easier, as analysed in greater detail in this Monthly Report. This is why the Post also presents the gap measured for each player in relation to his team’s average, with WSG Tirol’s Austrian Valentino Müller a surprising leader.

* A player is considered under pressure when he is in possession of the ball and at least one opponent player nearby him is trying to either recover the ball or limit his options. For each situation, SkillCorner determines the intensity of pressure by considering the speed of the players applying it, their distance to the player in possession and the angle of their movement. More information is available here.

>>> Top 100

The 472nd CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks clubs in 58 leagues around the world according to the percentage of minutes by footballers who did yet turn 21 in domestic league matches played over the last three years. Barcelona leads the European big-5 league table (22.6% of minutes by U21 players), while Ukrainian side Rukh Lviv are the most youth-oriented club in absolute terms (41.1%).

Denmark’s Nordsjælland (40.7% of minutes by U21s) and Uzbekistan’s Olympic (39.9%) complete the podium across the 58 leagues analysed, ahead of Slovakia’s MŠK Žilina and Austria’s RB Salzburg. At Europe’s big-5 league level, Barcelona outranks the French of Olympique Lyonnais (20,7%). Outside Europe, the Uruguayans of Defensor SC (23.9%) are ahead of Colombia’s Fortaleza CEIF (22.8%) and Envigado (22.5%).

The Post also presents the number of U21 footballers fielded, both in total or imported from abroad. From the latter perspective, at the top three positions are Switzerland’s FC Basel (24 foreign U21 players), Austria’s RB Salzburg (22) and Denmark’s Nordsjælland (21). Parma heads the rankings for the big-5 (16 players), while United Arab Emirates’ Al-Wasl FC tops the table among non-European clubs (13).

>>> Full data

>>> Demographic Atlas

The 471st CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the top 100 of players worldwide who did not yet turn 20 in terms of their relative experience level*. Lamine Yamal tops the list with 2.75 times more experience than the average measured for players of the same age and position. The Spaniard outranks his Barcelona teammate Pau Cubarsí (x2.42) and Real Madrid’s Endrick Felipe (x2.41).

Paris St-Germain’s Warren Zaïre-Emery is fourth, ahead of Manchester United’s Kobbie Mainoo. The three youngest players in the top 100 are KRC Genk’s Belgian Konstantinos Karetsas (16.8 years; 71st), LOSC Lille’s Frenchman Ayyoub Bouaddi (16.9 years; 54th) and River Plate’s Argentinian Franco Mastantuono (17.1 years; 22nd).

Outside the European big-5, the top three are Ecuador’s Kendry Páez (Independiente del Valle, on loan from Chelsea), Brazil’s Estêvão Willian (Palmeiras, also on loan from Chelsea) and Turkey’s Yasin Özcan (Kasimpaşa). In total, 38 leagues are represented in the top 100, with a maximum of 13 players for the English Premier League, followed by 10 for the French Ligue 1.

* The level of experience is calculated on the basis of last year’s official game minutes, weighted by the sporting level of matches played.

>>> Top 100

>>> The CIES Football Observatory will be present at World Football Summit (WFS) Europe (booth No. 5), which is taking place in Sevilla between Wednesday 18th September and Thursday 19th September 2024. Visit us or schedule a meeting

The 97th Monthly Report of the CIES Football Observatory analyses the financial flows of transfer operations occurred over the last decade. Despite a 10% drop compared to the record year of 2023, the amount of transfer fees invested by clubs worldwide remained at a very high level in 2024: €10.96 billion including add-ons. This is the second highest figure ever recorded.

With about €23 billion of transfer fees committed over the last decade, the English Premier League stands out clearly (28% of the total), followed by the Italian Serie A (€10.8 billion). The Premier League is also the competition with the most negative net spending since 2015 (-€11.5 billion), followed by the Saudi Pro League (-€1.8 billion). In contrast, the Portuguese Primeira Liga (+€2.3 billion) is ahead of the English Championship, the Dutch Eredivisie and the Brazilian Serie A.

In terms of individual clubs, Chelsea stands out with a record €2.78 billion invested in transfer fees over the last decade. This is 42% more than the next two biggest spenders: Manchester City and Manchester United. The latter team has the most negative net transfer balance over the last decade (-€1.30 billion) ahead of Chelsea and Paris St-Germain. Conversely, Portugal’s SL Benfica has the most positive net spending (+€816 million), well ahead of Ajax and RB Salzburg.

>>> Full report

>>> Updated Weekly Post on last summer window’s analysis per league

The 470th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 100 teams in the world having committed the most money in transfer fees to recruit their current squad members (both permanently or on loan). Chelsea tops the list with €1.28 billion including add-ons (regardless of their actual payment) and €1.15 billion without them. These are the highest values ever recorded (see last year’s rankings).

Manchester City and Manchester United complete the podium, with amounts including add-ons also in excess of €1 billion. Sixth with €772 million, Paris St-Germain is the only non-English team in the top seven. The French outfit ranks just behind Arsenal (€798 m) and Tottenham (€787m), while outranking Liverpool (€735m). Real Madrid (€720m) and Juventus (€626m) are the only other non-Premier League clubs in the top 10.

Al-Hilal (€485m, 13th) are first among non-big 5 league teams, ahead of three other Saudi Arabia’s clubs: Al-Nassr (€270m), Al-Ittihad (€226m) and Al-Ahli (€224m). Flamengo (€208m) clearly outranks Botafogo (€85m) and Palmeiras (€77m) for South America. In total, 19 countries are represented in the top 100, with a maximum of 24 clubs for England (the 20 Premier League sides and four teams from the Championship).

>>> Full data

The 469th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post compares the transfer fees invested by clubs worldwide (including add-ons) between the summers 2023 and 2024. In both cases, the period taken into account runs from 1 June to the Monday of the last week of the transfer window (28 August in 2023 and 26 August in 2024).

Overall, the expenditure fell by 13%, from €8.18 billion to €7.08 billion. English Premier League clubs were once again the biggest spenders (€2.19 billion), although their investments were also down (-€270 million, -11%). The Saudi Pro League saw the biggest drop in both absolute (-€657 million) and relative terms (-75%).

In the other leagues of the European big-5, a decline was recorded so far in the German Bundesliga (-€160 million, -20%), while investment rose in Italy’s Serie A (+€130 million, +17%), with stable figures for both Spanish Liga and France’s Ligue 1. The biggest relative increase among the 20 most active leagues was in the Brasileirão (+87 million, +136%), mainly due to the arrival of foreign capital in club ownerships.

>>> Full data

Following the three CIES Football Observatory Summer Series reports on global football match calendar and player workload, our colleagues of the CIES Sports Intelligence have elaborated a very comprehensive (>50 pages) and highly informing study that we are happy to help disseminating.

CIES Sports Intelligence media release

‘Through a series of cases studies and analyses, the CIES Sports Intelligence report on the elite men’s football match calendar and player workload provides an empirical outlook on both current and historical trends related to these topics. Notwithstanding the importance of the international match calendar’s structure, the study underlines the prominent role of domestic bodies (i.e. leagues or national associations) as competition organisers, highlighting some of the differences that exist at individual country level.

Moreover, the report illustrates that, somewhat contrary to the current narrative within the football ecosystem, there is no consistent evidence of an increase in elite player workload since the turn of the century. In fact, the contrary appears to exist according to the research conducted by CIES Sports Intelligence. Highlights from the report include:

•⁠ Players – overall workload: With a total of 6,258 minutes (the equivalent of nearly 70 full matches) played between club and national team in 2012/2013, David Luiz holds the single season record across all players that competed in the top eight European divisions over the past 25 years. The two next highest values date back even further - to Frank Lampard and Roberto Carlos campaigns in 2006/2007 and 1999/2000 respectively. Bruno Fernandes (6th) is the only player in the top ten related to a season that does not precede 2013 at least. When extending the analysis to the top 50 players by total number of minutes per season, the overall trend has been on a decreasing trajectory for the past three seasons when compared to any three-year cycle since 1999/2000.

•⁠ Competition – calendar occupation: Domestic competitions have accounted for 94,2% of the distribution of football matches between the seasons 2012/13 and 2023/24.

•⁠ ⁠Competitions and clubs – Back-to-back matches: Taking a sample size from the top-five ranked European domestic leagues, during the 2023/2024 season, England was home to the highest number of domestic back-to-back matches (event of a club playing two domestic games within 72 hours from one another) involving top division clubs (with 87 instances). English Premier League clubs topped the ranking also in terms of the shortest average time (67.3 hours) between back-to-back matches.

•⁠ Clubs – International tours: After considering the total calendar days with no competitive football being played, Manchester United (52 friendlies), Manchester City (45 friendlies) and Real Madrid (45 friendlies) are the clubs that played the highest number of friendly matches outside of Europe between July 2010 and May 2024. League-wide, the English Premier League set a new record in 2023/2024 with an aggregate total of 42 ‘non-European’ friendlies played (and a total 308,212 kilometers travelled in the process – the third highest total since 2001/2002).

•⁠ Players – substitute data: With data taken from four European leagues (England, Germany, Italy and Spain), substitutes have been on the pitch for an aggregate average of 86,775 additional minutes per season since the permanent introduction of the five changes. This value represents a 51.1% increase compared to the total recorded during the last season with only three substitutions allowed.’

>>> Full report

The third report of the CIES Football Observatory Summer Series on Match Calendar and Player Workload focuses on the most in-demand footballers. It notably reveals that, over the last twelve years, more than three quarters of minutes played by most fielded footballers per season worldwide (>4,500 minutes) were played in national club competitions (76.3%).

This finding confirms for the most in-demand footballers the conclusion already drawn in the first report at the level of all players: national leagues, more than any other organiser, have a dominant role in structuring the football match calendar. This situation has changed little over time (see also the second report on clubs) and the changes made to the format of certain competitions will have only a minor impact.

Projections for 2024-2028 show indeed that, given recent trends in squad size, turnover and the use of five substitutions, the proportion of active footballers in the 40 leagues studied who will play more than 4,500 official game minutes per season (50 full matches) will be slightly lower than that observed between 2020 and 2024: 1.02% compared with 1.07%.

>>> Third report on most in-demand players

>>> Second report on clubs

>>> First report on organisers

The second report of the CIES Football Observatory Summer Series on Match Calendar and Player Workload analyses the trends in the number of official games played by clubs in 40 of the top leagues worldwide. The study notably reveals that the teams are not playing more matches per season, countering the popular belief of an ever more crowded match calendar.

Between 2012 and 2024, the average number of fixtures per club and season is stable at just over 40. Only about 5% of clubs play 60 or more games per season (not including friendlies). Looking further back to the 2000/01 season, the same finding holds true for the big-5 leagues’ representatives in the UEFA Champions League, with even a decrease in the overall number of official matches played during the last three seasons.

No significant change was observed in the proportion of clubs playing 60 or more matches neither. The values measured at global level for the last two seasons (3.7% for 2022/23 and 4.0% for 2023/24) are here too lower than the average recorded over the entire period. The study also project figures for the next four year-cycle, with national leagues continuing to play a dominant role in the organisation of matches.

>>> Full study

This first report of the CIES Football Observatory Summer Series on Match Calendar and Player Workload in men’s football analyses trends in the number of games and minutes per season played over the last twelve years by footballers from 40 of the top leagues worldwide, as well as their breakdown according to organisers and projections for the 2024-28 period.

National leagues have by far the greatest weight on the organisation of men’s world football. Between 2012 and 2024, they accounted for 82.2% of all matches played by footballers from the 40 leagues surveyed. The second largest organiser, national associations, accounted for 10.2% of matches, while confederations come third with 6.7%, ahead of FIFA with 0.9%.

The main change over the last twelve seasons is the relative strengthening of the confederations, mainly to the detriment of associations. However, no weakening of the national leagues’ clear-cut leadership in the men’s football match calendar was observed. The latter accounted for more than 80% of the minutes played by footballers in the 40 leagues studied during all the seasons surveyed.

According to the projections elaborated by taking new competition formats into account, footballers from the leagues investigated will on average play the same number of minutes and 1.4% more matches in all competitions combined (not including club friendlies) over the next four years compared to the last four. The non-increase in expected minutes is driven by factors such as the five substitutions rule and trends in squad sizes.

>>> Access the full report for free

The CIES Football Observatory is breaking new ground with four summer reports on the highly topical issue of the football calendar congestion and players workload. The studies will be published on a weekly basis from next week, and will focus on three key areas and actors within the global football calendar ecosystem.

• Week 1 (ending 12 July) – Competitions
• Week 2 (ending 19 July) – Clubs
• Week 3 (ending 26 July) – Players
• Week 4 (ending 2 August) – Final report and further insights

The reports will individually and together help to gain a better understanding of the trends observed over the last twelve years in terms of the number and frequency of matches played worldwide, both in absolute terms and according to the organisers (leagues, associations, confederations, FIFA, etc.), and also in terms of matches and minutes players appear throughout their seasons. They will also provide an analysis of the impact of planned changes to the format of certain competitions (continental club competitions, FIFA Club World Cup, etc.), amongst other datapoints and insights.

Other new features are already available on the CIES Football Observatory website, including improved versions of the Transfer Value Tool and the Demographic Atlas, not to mention the other tools exclusively developed, such as the Migration Atlas and the Performance Stats Tool.

The 468th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the teams qualified for the Euro 2024 from multiple perspectives. The analysis of squad competitiveness, calculated through an index weighting the minutes played over the last year by footballers selected by the sporting level of their matches, highlights Germany and Spain as the favourites.

France and England are the other two most likely semi-finalists, with Portugal close behind. Regarding the aggregated transfer value of squad members, estimated using the exclusive CIES Football Observatory’s statistical model, England (€1.69 billion) is ahead of France (€1.41 billion) and Portugal (€1.22 billion). On an individual level, Jude Bellingham outranks the fresh Real Madrid signing Kylian Mbappé and Phil Foden.

The Post also presents data on the demographics of squads. In terms of age, the values range from 28.8 years for Scotland to 25.8 years for the Czech Republic. Regarding height, the extremes are 186.5 cm for Serbia and 181.6 cm for Spain. In terms of the proportion of footballers playing for clubs outside the country represented, the percentages range from 100% for Denmark and Albania to 8% for England.

The 467th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 100 clubs in the world with the most followers on four social media: Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok. Recent UEFA Champions League winners Real Madrid lead the way with 411 million followers, ahead of Barcelona (361 million) and Manchester United (216 million).

Fifteenth, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr is the most followed non-European team (54 million). The Saudis are ahead of Brazil’s Flamengo (also 54 million) and Egypt’s Al-Ahly (51 million). Twenty-five countries are represented in the top 100, with a maximum of 18 clubs for Spain, followed by England (17), Brazil (12) and Mexico (6).

The biggest increases over the past year among the teams in the top 100 were recorded for Real Madrid (+48 million followers), Inter Miami (+31 million), Manchester City (+27 million) and Al-Nassr (+22 million). In relative terms, the biggest growth was observed for Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami (+1,348%).

>>> Full data