Issue number 131 of the Weekly Post unveils the bi-annual list of the 100 big-5 league players with the highest transfer values, estimated according to the CIES Football Observatory exclusive algorithm. Lionel Messi heads the ranking ahead of teammate Neymar and Chelsea’s Eden Hazard. In fourth and fifth positions are Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane. The estimated transfer value of Neymar, €153 million, is €59 million above that of June 2015.

If the Ballon d’or was awarded per position, the following big-5 league players would deserve to be named trophy winners according to their performances in 2015: Thiago Silva, Dani Alves, ?lkay Gündo?an, Santi Cazorla, Mesut Özil and Lionel Messi. Issue number 130 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the top 10 rankings per position, as well as the “dream teams” for both players over and under 23 years of age.

Current Manchester United and Manchester City squad members have played 120 national A-team matches in 2015. This is the record figure at big-5 league level. In third position is Chelsea (111), ahead of Paris St-Germain (106) and Barcelona (99). Seven out of the 10 top ranked clubs qualified for the Champions League knockout stages. The full set of results is presented in issue number 129 of the Weekly Post.

Issue number 128 of the Weekly Post analyses the average day of birth of players for each club of the five major European leagues. In 23 teams only, this date is after July 1st. This is the average date of birth of the typical citizen. The extreme values were recorded at Fiorentina (20 April) and Southampton (11 August). This confirms the existence of a selection bias in football, which favours players born in the first months of the year.

Issue number 127 of the Weekly Post presents data on the average transfer fee invested per player fielded. Four clubs stand apart: Real Madrid (€30.7 million), Manchester City (28.3), Manchester United (27.4) and Paris St-Germain (27.1). Only in two other clubs is the average transfer expenditure for players on the pitch above €20 million: Chelsea (21.9) and Barcelona (21.3). This figure is only €2.5 million for Leicester City.

Playing a significant number of matches from the start of a professional career is a key success factor for football players. Issue number 126 of the Weekly Post unveils the rankings of teams who played the most important role in the development of current big-5 league players. At the head of the European table is Real Madrid Castilla. Southampton contributed most to the development of English Premier League footballers.