Issue number 261 of the Weekly Post presents the top 50 list of the U20 players from the big-5 with the highest transfer value according to the CIES Football Observatory algorithm. The English full international Jadon Sancho heads the table with an estimated value of €150M. Borussia Dortmund’s winger outranks Arsenal’s Mattéo Guendouzi (€70M) and AS Roma’s Nicolò Zaniolo (€67M).

The 260th edition of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the age at which players fielded during this season in 24 European top divisions were signed by their clubs of employment. Academy graduates are not included in the sample. RB Leipzig recruited its footballers at the youngest age (21.43 years on average), while MKE Ankaragücü signed them at the oldest one (29.28 years).

Marcelo Guedes (Olympique Lyonnais) heads the big-5 league rankings of players having won the highest percentage of defensive air challenges in domestic league matches this season: 136 out of 159 (85.5%). The Brazilian outranks three English Premier League players: Harry Maguire, Virgil van Dijk and Shane Duffy. The top 50s for the big-5 and 26 other European competitions are available in issue number 259 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post.

Issue number 258 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks 27 top division leagues of UEFA member countries according to the percentage of goals scored during the current season by expatriate footballers. At the top of the table is Cyprus (86.8% of foreign goals), ahead of Turkey (80.7%) and England (68.8%).

Issue number 257 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the players with the highest estimated transfer value per big-5 league club. The potentially most expensive player overall, Kylian Mbappé (€228 million), represents 25.9% of the total squad value of Paris St-Germain. A similar percentage was measured for Jadon Sancho (€148 million, 24.9%) at Borussia Dortmund.

The CIES Football Observatory has developed an exclusive approach to measure the technical performance of players on an objective basis using data provided by OptaPro. Issue number 256 of the Weekly Post presents the best performing big-5 league footballers for last 1,000 minutes played. The rankings only include players fielded for at least 630 minutes since January 1st 2019.

Issue number 255 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks big-5 league teams according to the ratio between fouls suffered and committed during the current season using data from OptaPro. FC Barcelona players suffered the most fouls with respect to those committed (1.5 times). At the opposite end is Brighton & Hove with a ratio of 0.68.

Issue number 254 of the CIES Football Weekly Post investigates InStat data to present the 20 clubs with the highest and lowest percentages of shots on target both in the five major European leagues and in twenty-five other domestic championships. The figures vary from 48.6% (Manchester United) and 28.9% (Cagliari) in the big-5, as well as from 50.4% (Ajax) and 31.7% (four different clubs) in the other competitions surveyed.

Weekly Post number 253 presents the aggregated transfer value of big-5 league clubs. According to the algorithm exclusively developed by the CIES Football Observatory, the estimated value of the squad of five teams is over one billion euro. Four of them are from the Premier League, which reflects the financial power of the English top division. Barcelona is the best-ranked non-English team.

Issue number 252 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post relies on OptaPro data to rank big-5 league footballers according to the number of domestic league minutes played per successful dribble over the last 365 days. Lionel Messi heads the rankings with a dribble achieved every 19.2 minutes, ahead of Allan Saint-Maximin (19.8) and Eden Hazard (21.0). The analysis only includes footballers who played at least 1,800 minutes (1,500 for current Bundesliga players).

Issue number 251 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights the 20 most experienced young players from 22 European competitions per year of birth. The rankings were elaborated using an exclusive methodology weighting domestic league minutes played by footballers during the last two years according to the sporting strength of employer teams.

The CIES Football Observatory celebrates the 250th edition of its Weekly Post with an exclusive analysis on the contribution of clubs in training the players fielded in big-5 league matches during the last five years. Training clubs are those where players have been for at least three seasons between the ages of 15 and 21. The rankings are elaborated by summing minutes played in the big-5 since January 1st 2014 by all of the footballers trained per club.

Who are the footballers having played the most minutes in the big-5 leagues during the last five years? This is the question answered in issue number 249 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post. Samir Handanovi? (Inter) tops the table for goalkeepers, while César Azpilicueta (Chelsea) heads the rankings for outfield players.

No team in the 35 European competitions surveyed needed as few shots to score as Paris St-Germain. The French side scored so far every 4.7 shots. According to the exclusive InStat data, this ratio was inferior to five for another big-5 league club only: Borussia Dortmund. The top three per league is available in issue number 248 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post.

Issue number 247 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents big-5 league players whose current estimated value exceeds the most the fee paid by recruiting teams during last summer. Rodri Hernández (+€45 million) tops the table for fee-paying transfers ahead of Lucas Torreira (+€44m), while Emre Can (+€45m) heads the rankings for free agents ahead of Stefan de Vrij (+€39m).

Issue number 246 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the pitch production of big-5 league clubs during the first part of the current season to highlight if they have over- or under-performed in terms of points achieved. The findings suggest that Manchester City will finally beat Liverpool in the English Premier League title race.

The first Weekly Post of the year presents the 100 big-5 league players with the highest transfer value according to the exclusive CIES Football Observatory algorithm. The 20-year-old French prodigy Kylian Mbappé (€218.5 million) tops the list ahead of Harry Kane (€200.3m) and Neymar (€197.1m).

The last CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post of the year 2018 highlights players whose teams have achieved the most or least points per match when they were in the starting 11 than when this was not the case. The most positive gap in absolute was recorded for Christophe Jallet (OGC Nice): 7 wins out of the 7 matches that he started compared to only 0.44 points per match for the remaining games.

Issue number 243 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the top 20 tables for big-5 league players whose transfer values have increased the most during the last three months both in absolute and relative terms. At the head of the two rankings is the fresh English full international and Borussia Dortmund player Jadon Sancho: +€78 million and +806%.

Issue number 242 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post relies on InStat data to present the average effective time of games in 37 European competitions. The Swedish Allsvenskan is the league with the most fluid matches (60.4% of effective time), just ahead the UEFA Champions League (60.2%). The Portuguese Primeira Liga finds itself in the opposite position (50.9%).

Issue number 241 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks countries according to the number of domestic league minutes played by their representatives in the big-5. The French top the rankings (19.7% of total minutes) ahead of the Spaniards (15.2%) and the Germans (9.8%). Overall, players originating from 85 countries have taken part in big-5 league matches so far this season.

Issue number 240 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the ten most fielded U21 players in the big-5 leagues and Portuguese top division. Until last Friday, eleven U21 footballers had played the totality of domestic league minutes. Among them notably are hot prospects such as Rúben Neves, Jules Koundé, Arne Maier, Nikola Milenkovi? and Rúben Dias.

Every month, the CIES Football Observatory updates the transfer valuations of big-5 league players using its exclusive algorithm. Issue number 239 of the Weekly Post presents the top 10 list for each position. The highest figure overall was recorded for Kylian Mbappé (€216.5m). Ederson, Umtiti, Alexander-Arnold and Alli top their position’s rankings.

Issue number 238 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights clubs having trained the most players currently present in 31 European top divisions and the big-5 leagues respectively. The highest figures were recorded for AFC Ajax for players in the 31 top divisions (77) and Real Madrid for footballers in the big-5 (36).

The CIES Football Observatory has developed an exclusive approach to assess the performance of players using the statistics produced by the leading data company OptaPro. Issue number 237 of the Weekly Post presents big-5 league footballers with the highest scores for the last 1,000 domestic league minutes played.

Only three teams in Europe have fielded this season players who have been in the first team squad since more than five years on average: Real Madrid (5.84 years), Barcelona (5.36) and Bayern Munich (5.26). Issue number 236 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post also reveals that another Champions League participant, Viktoria Plze?, is the most stable club outside of the big-5 (4.28 years).

Issue number 235 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights teams having fielded the youngest and oldest line-ups in domestic league games so far this season (or since 1st of July for summer leagues). The extreme values at big-5 league level were recorded for two Italian teams: Fiorentina (23.79 years) and Chievo (29.53 years).

Issue number 234 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks clubs across Europe according to the number of minutes per shot attempted. The following teams head the table in the five major European leagues: Manchester City, Juventus, Olympique Lyonnais, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Slavia Praha tops the rankings outside of the big-5.

Manchester City has spent almost €1 billion in transfer indemnities to sign its present squad members (add-ons included). This is the highest figure ever measured for a football team. Issue number 233 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the data for all of the big-5 league teams.

The first CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post of the 2018/19 season assesses from an economic perspective paid transfers having taken place during last summer. It highlights that Thibaut Courtois went to Real Madrid for a much lower amount than the estimated fair price (-€23 M). Conversely, Chelsea FC paid over the odds to recruit his substitute: Kepa Arrizabalaga (+€45 M).

The last Weekly Post before the summer break ranks teams participating in the 2018 FIFA World Cup according to the transfer value of squad members, estimated from the CIES Football Observatory algorithm. At the top three positions of the table are France (€1.41 billion), England (€1.39 billion) and Brazil (€1.27 billion).

Harry Kane has become the world most expensive player from a transfer value perspective according to the exclusive CIES Football Observatory algorithm. Following his new outstanding season, the Englishman is now worth €201.2 million. Tottenham’s striker outranks two Paris St-Germain’s players: Neymar (€197.5 m) and Kylian Mbappé (€186.5 m). The top 100 list for big-5 league footballers is available in issue number 230 of the Weekly Post.

The five major European championships ended. Issue number 229 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post compares the final rank for each team with its position in a virtual table elaborated on the basis of a production index. The latter takes into account three key performance indicators (data from InStat): shots conceded or attempted from the box, as well as the percentage of possession.

Issue number 228 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analysed InStat data to unveil teams having scored the most goals within ten seconds from free kicks per domestic league minute played this season. Fresh Swiss champions Young Boys scored a goal from these situations every 277 minutes. This is the best value measured for the 31 European competitions included in the study.

Issue number 227 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks footballers having played at least 1,800 big-5 league minutes over the season (1,440 for Germany) according to their performance level. Lionel Messi heads the table ahead of David Silva and Paulo Dybala. Six Manchester City players are in the top 10 list.

The average transfer value of Manchester City’s first team squad members estimated by means of the exclusive CIES Football Observatory algorithm reached a record high of €62.9 million. This is the greatest value measured at big-5 league level ahead of Barcelona (€55.3m) and Tottenham (€51.3m). The figures for all big-5 league teams are available in issue number 226 of the Weekly Post.

Issue number 225 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post reveals the most likely World Cup winners according to an exclusive power index. This index combines the average percentage of matches played at domestic league level since July 2017 by the 23 most fielded players per team in the qualifying campaign with the average sporting level of employer clubs. Spain tops the list ahead of Brazil.

Issue number 224 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the best performing big-5 league players whose contract runs out at the end of the season. Pepe Reina ranks first ahead of two other goalkeepers (Vicente Guaita and Gianluigi Buffon), as well as Arjen Robben. Only footballers having played at least 1,000 domestic league minutes during the current season are included in the rankings.

Gianluigi Buffon heads the table for the big-5 league players who have been for the longest period in their club employment. The legendary Italian goalkeeper already played for 17 seasons at Juventus. This is sixth months more than the second ranked footballer, Sergio Pellissier (Chievo), and one year more than for Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona) and Roman Weidenfeller (Borussia Dortmund). The top 110 list is available in issue number 223 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post.

Barcelona and Real Madrid top the rankings for the longest average contract duration of first team squad members. Six out of the eight top ranked clubs are still competing in European Cups. This illustrates the relationships between long-term planning and success. The 222nd edition of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the data for all big-5 league teams.

Issue number 221 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the percentage of matches with a gap of three or more goals in 29 European competitions. The highest figure so far this season was observed for the Champions League: 29% (+8% compared to the same moment during last season). This percentage is twice as high as at Europa League level: 16% (+3%).

The 220th issue of the Weekly Post presents players from the big-5 who performed the best in domestic league matches during the last three months. Footballers are ranked according to the exclusive approach developed by the CIES Football Observatory to measure the technical performance of players.

The CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post number 219 presents the 50 big-5 league players with the most positive gap between their current transfer value and the fee paid for them by their employer club. The greatest potential added value could be achieved by Tottenham Hotspur with Harry Kane: €198 million.

Issue number 218 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights big-5 league players whose transfer value has increased the most during the last six months. Only footballers who did not change team or extend their contract are included in the rankings. In the top positions are three English Premier League players: Mohamed Salah (+€74.7M), Ederson Moraes (+€74.4M) and Leroy Sané (+€63.0M).

The CIES Football Observatory has partnered with the leading football data company InStat to analyse the performance of teams across Europe. Issue number 217 of the Weekly Post lists the 100 clubs from 31 competitions with the best ratios between shots taken and conceded from the box during the current domestic league season. Porto ranks first ahead of Ludogorets and Crvena Zvezda.

Issue number 216 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post uses OptaPro data to analyse the dribbling skills of big-5 league players. The dribbling index is calculated by multiplying the average number of dribbles achieved per 90 minutes with the percentage of successful ones. This allows us to take into account both the quantity and quality of dribbles. Three players clearly distinguish themselves in this area: Eden Hazard, Neymar and Lionel Messi.

The CIES Football Observatory has analysed the domestic league experience cumulated during the last two years by U20 players from 22 European competitions to identify those with the best career prospects. Minutes played by each footballer were weighted according to the sporting level of leagues and the results achieved by employer clubs. Weekly Post number 215 presents the 50 players with the highest experience capital scores.

No club in football history has invested as much money in transfer indemnities to assemble the squad than Manchester City presently. Despite the loan of Mangala to Everton, the expensive signing of Laporte brought the total squad recruitment cost to a record high of €878 M. The data for all big-5 league teams is available in issue number 214 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post.

Issue number 213 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses transactions carried out by big-5 league clubs during January’s transfer window. For the first time in history, the total estimated spending was over one billion €. Transfer expenditure increased by 36% compared to the previous record figure measured in 2017. English Premier League investments accounted for 51% of transfer indemnities paid by big-5 league clubs as a whole.

The CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post number 212 presents the 100 clubs from 31 European competitions having achieved the most accurate passes per domestic league game since the start of the season. The Post also includes the exclusive InStat data on the percentage of accurate passes and the average number of passes completed per minute of possession.

Issue number 211 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks teams from the five major European championships according to the percentage of players signed from foreign clubs. Manchester City tops the rankings with 17 international recruitments out of 22 players fielded so far in domestic league games (77.3%). At the opposite end of the table is Athletic Club Bilbao (one player, Aymeric Laporte, out of 23).

The technical statistics produced by the leading data football company InStat are very valuable to analyse performance on an objective basis. Issue number 210 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 50 teams in 35 European competitions with the most positive and negative gaps between points per match achieved and predicted on the basis of a performance model including the variables of shots conceded from the box, possession and shots on target.

Like every January, the CIES Football Observatory has calculated the transfer values of players in the five major European leagues. The assessment takes into account the key criteria used by market actors such as age, position, contract duration, performance, international status, etc. Neymar (€213m) heads the table ahead of Lionel Messi (€202m) and Harry Kane (€195m). The top 100 list is available in issue number 209 of the Weekly Post.

FC Barcelona currently employs 20 players fielded by national A-teams in 2017 for a record number of 139 matches and 10,846 minutes. The Catalan side outranks two English clubs (Manchester United and Tottenham), Juventus FC and Bayern Munich. At sixth place is the Nicaraguan team Real Estelí. The top 100 list is available in issue number 208 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post.

Every semester, the CIES Football Observatory lists players who performed the best in big-5 league matches using an exclusive statistical approach. Issue number 207 of the Weekly Post presents the top 10 tables for eight positions. Only footballers who played at least 720 domestic league minutes are included in the rankings.

The young French prodigy Kylian Mbappé heads the CIES Football Observatory table for the U21 big-5 league players with the highest estimated transfer values. The Paris Saint-Germain striker outranks Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur) and Leroy Sané (Manchester City). The top 100 list is available in the issue number 206 of the Weekly Post.

The 205th Weekly Post of the CIES Football Observatory presents the 50 clubs from 31 European top divisions having fielded players signed during the current year for the lowest and highest percentage of minutes in domestic league matches played since the 1st of July. At the top of the tables are SSC Napoli and Hapoel Acre.

The 204th edition of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post lists the 10 most fielded footballers per position born in or after 1997 in both the big-5 leagues and 26 other top division European championships. With 19 players, the French Ligue 1 is by far the most represented competition. The youngest footballer in the big-5 league tables is Dan-Axel Zagadou (Borussia Dortmund).

Issue number 203 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses data provided by InStat to highlight the 100 clubs from 35 European competitions that conceded the least shots from their own box per domestic league game played since the start of the season. The lowest figure was recorded for Olimpija Ljubljana, while Manchester City heads the big-5 league rankings.

Issue number 202 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks big-5 league teams according to the estimated transfer value of their players. The aggregated value of current squad members is above one billion euro for four clubs: Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, FC Barcelona and Chelsea.

Issue number 201 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the lists of the 50 clubs from 36 European leagues who fielded the tallest and shortest line-ups since the start of the season. At the head of the rankings are FC København (186.2cm) and Ludogorets Razgrad (177.0cm). But does height explain success at adult level?

Issue number 200 of the increasingly popular CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights the clubs having trained the most footballers present on the 1st of October 2017 in 31 top division European leagues. At the top of the table is Ajax Amsterdam, while Real Madrid trained the most big-5 league players.

The ability of teams to shoot is a key success factor. This holds even more true with regard to shots on target. Using the exclusive data produced by InStat, issue number 199 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 100 clubs from the main top division European leagues presenting the highest figures for shots on target per match during the current season.

Issue number 198 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks top division teams from 31 European associations according to the percentage of domestic league minutes played by expatriates since the start of the season. Three Cypriot clubs tops the table: Apollon Limassol (99.8%), Anorthosis Famagusta (95.3%) and AEK Larnaca (91.5%). Chelsea heads the big-5 league rankings (90.4%).

The CIES Football Observatory has specialised in the scientific estimation of professional players’ transfer value. Issue number 197 of the Weekly Post highlights big-5 league footballers whose transfer value augmented the most in absolute terms since July 2017. At the head of the rankings are Romelu Lukaku (+€56m), Kylian Mbappé (+€50m) and Paulo Dybala (+€47m).

The fresh collaboration with the leading football data company InStat allows us to present exclusive analysis on the performance of clubs throughout Europe. The first CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post of this kind focuses on the percentage of ball possession since the start of the season for teams from 35 national competitions. The highest figure overall was recorded for Celtic Glasgow: 70.8%.

Issue number 195 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks top division clubs from 31 European associations according to the average age of line-ups fielded since the start of the current season. The lowest figure overall was recorded for the Ukrainian side Stal Kamianske (21.7 years), while the youngest team at big-5 league level so far is LOSC Lille (22.9 years).

Manchester City invested a record value of €853 million in transfer fees to assemble its current squad. This value is €850 million for Paris St-Germain and €784 million for previous record holder Manchester United. The data for all big-5 league teams is available in issue number 194 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post.

Issue number 193 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the financial assessments of paying fee transfers carried out by big-5 league clubs during the last summer window. In total, 40 big-5 league clubs out of 98 had a credit balance. The biggest net profit was recorded for Monaco: +€289 million. At the opposite end of the spectrum is Paris St-Germain: -€343 million.

The CIES Football Observatory research team has developed a powerful approach to estimate on a scientific basis the transfer value of professional football players. Issue number 192 of the Weekly Post presents the list of the 110 big-5 league footballers with an estimated value of more than € 40 million. Barcelona’s Neymar tops the table ahead of Tottenham’s Dele Alli and Harry Kane.

Weekly Post number 191 of the CIES Football Observatory presents turnover strategies followed in domestic league matches of the 2016/17 season by clubs from 27 top division European leagues. Chelsea FC holds the record for the highest percentage of minutes played by the 11 most employed footballers: 85.5%. Conversely, Manchester United is among the 50 clubs with the highest turnover rate.

Issue number 190 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks footballers from the five major European leagues according to the number of minutes played in official games since July 1st 2016. The French and Atlético Madrid star Antoine Griezmann tops the table ahead of Wilfred Ndidi (Genk, Leicester and Nigeria) and teammate Koke.

Issue number 189 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks big-5 league players according to their tackling skills. The tackling index is calculated by multiplying the average number of tackles attempted per 90 minutes and their success rate. Only players fielded for at least 1,500 domestic league minutes are included in the analysis.

Issue number 188 of the Weekly Post presents the best players of the 2016/17 big-5 league season. The rankings were elaborated according to the exclusive CIES Football Observatory’s approach to measure player performance on an objective and comparable basis. Lionel Messi outranks Cristiano Ronaldo in the table for wingers.

The ability to both create and convert big chances is a key success factor. However, issue number 187 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights that in four out of the five major European leagues, teams heading the table distinguished themselves from runner-up clubs above all for their ability to score with no clear-cut opportunity available.

Issue number 186 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the results of big-5 league teams according to the transfer expenditure to sign players fielded over the 2016/17 season. A positive and significant correlation was measured between fees paid and points per match in all leagues surveyed. This confirms the strong link between money and success.

Issue number 185 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the top 100 list of the best performing big-5 league players in the area of dribbling. Middlesbrough’s Adama Traoré outranks Eden Hazard (Chelsea) and Allan St-Maximin (Bastia). Neymar, Lionel Messi and Alexis Sánchez also are in the top 10 positions of the rankings.

The CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post n° 184 presents the percentage of matches ended with a three-goal gap or over for 31 top division European leagues, as well as UEFA’s Champions League and Europa League. The analysis shows that the Champions League is among the most unbalanced competitions.

Issue number 183 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks 31 top division European leagues according to goals scored since July 1st 2016. At the top of the table is the Swiss Super League (3.33 goals per game). The Russian Premier League finds itself at the opposite end of the spectrum (1.99).

For the first time, issue number 182 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents data on cards issued by referees. The 31 top division European championships surveyed are ranked according to the average number of cards given per game. The Greek Super League heads the table (5.52), while the Norwegian Eliteserien is at the bottom of the rankings (2.93).

Issue number 181 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights the 100 clubs from 31 top division championships of UEFA member associations having on average fielded the oldest line ups in the domestic league matches played during the last six months. The most represented countries in the rankings are England and Turkey (10 clubs each), followed by Cyprus and Russia (9 teams).

The first CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post was published in March 2012. To celebrate this birthday, we ranked the 54 clubs always present in the big-5 leagues during the last five years according to the number of players fielded in domestic league games. Italian side Genoa used the most players overall: 119! At the opposite end of the spectrum is Borussia Mönchengladbach (48 players).

Issue number 179 of the Weekly Post presents the best performing big-5 league players in the six areas of the game that make up the exclusive CIES Football Observatory approach for the technical analysis of performance. The data refers to the last 1,000 minutes played by each player in domestic league matches. Only footballers fielded for at least 360 minutes since January 1st are included.

Issue number 178 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents big-5 league players who have been for the longest consecutive period in the first team squad of their current club. Only footballers who have participated in domestic league matches during the ongoing season are taken into account.

Issue number 177 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the list of footballers trained by clubs qualified for the Champions League last 16 round playing in these teams. The number of footballers trained varies between 11 for Barcelona to only one for Manchester City and Napoli.

What is the common feature between Dele Alli, Renato Sanches, Christian Pulisic and Gianluigi Donnarumma? They are all the most experienced players in their age group among those under contract with clubs of 31 top division leagues of UEFA member associations. Issue number 176 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the top 20 list in the experience rankings for players born in 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999.

Issue number 175 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents a networked representation of fee paying deals having involved big-5 league teams during the last transfer window. Clubs in the five major European championships have invested a record amount of 742 million € to sign new players. The previous record, 523 million €, was established in 2011.

Issue number 174 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents players who made their debut in the professional game after July 1st 2016 fielded during the current season in domestic league matches by a big-5 league club. The analysis notably highlights the key role played by the French top division in the promotion of young talents.

Issue number 173 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the gap between the value of squads and transfer fee expenditure to assemble them. This analysis allows us highlighting the most and least efficient clubs from a player economic valorisation perspective. For the vast majority of teams, the gap is positive. Indeed, the study does not take into account costs that the replacement of squad members would generate.

Neymar is by far the big-5 league player with the highest transfer value. The Brazilian prodigy outranks Lionel Messi and Paul Pogba. Data presented in issue number 172 of the Weekly Post is computed by means of the exclusive CIES Football Observatory transfer value algorithm.

Year after year, the CIES Football Observatory research team has developed a powerful approach for the technical analysis of player performance. On the basis of this methodology, issue number 171 of the Weekly Post presents the 10 best performing big-5 league players per position. Cristiano Ronaldo heads the table for forwards ahead of Lionel Messi.

Issue number 170 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the number of players fielded in domestic league matches from July 1st 2016 onwards by clubs in 31 top division leagues of UEFA member associations. The record values were observed for the Finnish champions Mariehamn (17 players) and the Croatian side RNK Split (37 players).

Issue number 169 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights clubs whose footballers have played the most minutes in national A-team matches in 2016. At the top of the table is Juventus. Throughout the year, twenty-one players from the Italian team have taken part in 157 international matches for a total of 12,454 minutes.

Issue number 168 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 100 footballers born on or after January 1st 1997 who played so far the highest percentage of minutes in 31 top division European leagues. Among the four players fielded for 100% of minutes are three goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Milan), Alban Lafont (Toulouse) and Adam Jakubech (Spartak Trnava).

Brazil tops the list of countries with the most expatriates in 31 top division championships of UEFA member associations. France heads the table at big-5 league level. All data is available in issue number 167 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post.

Issue number 166 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks European teams according to the average age of line-ups fielded in domestic league matches since July 1st 2016. Danish side Nordsjælland heads the table at the level of 31 top division European leagues (22.1 years), while Toulouse tops the big-5 league rankings (23.4 years).

Issue number 185 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the stability of squads in 31 top division leagues of UEFA member associations. The championships surveyed are compared according to the percentage of players who joined the first team squad of their employer team after January 1st 2016.

The presence of club-trained footballers greatly varies throughout Europe. Issue number 164 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks 31 top division championships of UEFA member associations according to the percentage of club-trained players in squads.

Issue number 163 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the annual list of the most productive training clubs. At the head of the rankings for big-5 league players is Real Madrid, while Dutch side Ajax tops the table for footballers in 31 top division European championships.

Real Madrid squad members were on average recruited at the age of 22.5 years. This is the lowest figure at big-5 league level. Issue number 162 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the data for the 98 clubs from the five major European championships. German and English teams are over-represented in the top positions of the rankings.

Issue number 161 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post compares big-5 league teams according to the number of players in their current squad signed after January 1st 2016. The best performing teams recruited fewer footballers than the less competitive ones. German champions Bayern Munich only signed two players.

Issue number 160 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the percentage of domestic league minutes played by national footballers* since the start of the season. At the top of the table is Osasuna (97%), while Udinese is at the bottom (1%).

Transfer expenditure at the top of the football pyramid has significantly grown in recent years. Issue number 159 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the sums spent in transfer fees by big-5 league teams to assemble their current squad. In football history, no club has invested as much as Manchester United this season to make up its roster: €718 million (+€185 million compared to last season).

The 158th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the beneficiaries of transfer investments made by big-5 league clubs. Between 2010 and 2016, roughly two thirds of the fees were paid out to other teams taking part in the five major European championships. This percentage varies between 63% in Italy and 70% in England.

Issue number 157 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 100 teams having generated the most income from the transfer of players to big-5 league clubs since 2010. Liverpool tops the rankings with €442 million, ahead of Valencia (€432 million), Juventus (€415 million) and Benfica (€414 million).

Issue number 156 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the table of clubs who spent the most on transfer fees since 2010 and in 2016. In both cases, Manchester City heads the rankings: €1 billion since 2010 and €231 million in 2016 (including add-ons). In the former table, Guardiola’s team outranks Chelsea (€871 million) and Manchester United (€841 million).

Issue number 155 of the Weekly Post presents the most profitable transfers of the summer from a selling club perspective. The highest gaps between fees paid (add-ons included) and amounts estimated via the CIES Football Observatory algorithm were measured for Gonzalo Higuaín at individual level (+ €23.8 million) and Sevilla FC at team level (+ €34.9 million).

While the transfer window did not yet come to an end, it is already possible to have a good idea of the profile of squads assembled by clubs. Issue number 154 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the average age per team of players fielded in domestic league games. Up until now, the youngest team at big-5 league level is Nice: 23.3 years. Tottenham heads the English Premier League ranking.

According to the CIES Football Observatory exclusive algorithm, the transfer value of players in the English squad amounts to €751 million. This figures is over €500 million for four other teams: France (€697 million), Spain (€639 million), Germany (€601 million) and Belgium (€550 million). Issue number 153 of the Weekly Post presents the data for all nations.

Issue number 152 of the Weekly Post unveils the exclusive CIES Football Observatory list of the 100 big-5 league players with the highest values from a transfer fee perspective. Besides Lionel Messi, seven other footballers had on June 1st 2016 a transfer value of more than €100 million.

Issue number 151 of the Weekly Post ranks big-5 league clubs according to the average transfer cost per player fielded. Leicester City was crowned despite the third lowest transfer expenditure at English Premier League level (€2.7 million per player). Conversely, Newcastle United could not avoid relegation despite having on average played with the 8th costliest line-up (€7.9 million per player).

David Silva heads the CIES Football Observatory table of the best performing big-5 league attacking midfielders. Manchester City’s Spaniard outranks Mesut Özil (Arsenal) and Henrik Mkhitaryan (Dortmund). In the top three positions for forwards are Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Zlatan Ibrahimovi? (Paris St-Germain) and Neymar (Barcelona). Issue number 150 of the Weekly Post presents the top 10 for both positions.

Issue number 149 the Weekly Post presents the best performing central midfielders of the big-5 league season. According to the exclusive CIES Football Observatory methodology, at the top three positions of the rankings for defensive midfielders are Arturo Vidal (Bayern), Xabi Alonso (Bayern) and Lucas Biglia (Lazio). Mousa Dembélé (Tottenham), Blaise Matuidi (Paris St-Germain) and?lkayGündo?an(Dortmund) head the box-to-box midfielder table.

Issue number 148 the Weekly Post highlights the best performing defenders of the 2015/16 season in the five major European leagues. According to the exclusive CIES Football Observatory statistical approach, at the top three positions of the centre back table are Mats Hummels (Dortmund), Thiago Silva (Paris St-Germain) andNicolásOtamendi (Manchester City). Filipe Luís (Atlético Madrid), Philipp Lahm (Bayern) and Dani Alves (Barcelone) head the full back rankings.

Issue number 147 the Weekly Post presents the best performing goalkeepers of the big-5 league season. The ranking notably takes into account the number of goals conceded per match and the percentage of saves. At the top of the table is German world champion Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), ahead of Jan Oblak (Atlético Madrid) and another world champion, the Italian legend Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus).

Leicester City’s success during current Premier League season has been outstanding. The analysis of the percentage of long balls out of total passes confirms the exceptional feature of Claudio Ranieri’s team. While the percentage of long balls for the best performing teams generally does not exceed 3%, this figure is almost 7% for Leicester. This is the highest level in the English Premier League and the third highest in the big-5 European leagues. A full set of data is available in issue number 146 of the Big-5 Weekly Post.

Issue number 145 of the Big-5 Weekly Post identifies young players active in the five major European leagues eligible for England, Spain, Germany, France and Italy who have more experience than current full internationals of those nations had at the same age. Among them notably are Nathan Redmond (Norwich),SaúlÑíguez (Atlético Madrid), Johannes Geis (Schalke 04), Samuel Umititi (Olympique Lyonnais) and Stefano Sturaro (Juventus).

Issue number 144 of the CIES Football Observatory Big-5 Weekly Post compares clubs according to the percentage of their current squad members who have been signed from abroad. At the top of the table is Chelsea (75% of players), followed by Monaco (73%) and Manchester City (69%). Sassuolo is the only big-5 league team who signed all squad members from national based clubs. The English Premier League gathers the most footballers recruited from abroad: 43.1%.

Players fielded by France since June 2015 have played 66,961 minutes in the big-5 leagues during the current season. This is the highest figure among teams qualified for the Euro 2016 tournament, ahead of Italy, Spain, England and Germany. Since last June, Didier Deschamps has fielded 35 footballers who have played during the current season in the big-5 leagues (34 for England). Issue number 143 of the Weekly Post presents data for all the national sides.

Issue number 142 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the median stay of coaches at the head of teams in the five major European leagues. Arsène Wenger stands alone, having managed Arsenal for 233 months. This is almost six times more than the second coach with the highest longevity in the English Premier League: Eddie Howe (Bournemouth). At big-5 league level, the second coach with the longest stay is Christophe Galtier (St-Etienne): 75 months.