Issue number 372 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the net spending on international transfers concluded since July 2017 by clubs of the 40 most active nations from an incoming and outcoming fee volume perspective. England (- €4.35 billion) and Portugal (+€1.15 billion) recorded the most negative and, respectively, positive trade balances.

Issue number 371 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks 38 leagues worldwide according to the InStat data on stoppage due to fouls. The two greatest figures were recorded for Latin American leagues, the Mexican and Colombian top divisions, while the highest fouls’ pause time out of the 33 European leagues surveyed was measured in Portugal.

Issue number 370 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the top 50 of clubs worldwide having generated the most incomes since July 2015 from the transfer of players graduated from their youth academy and having been at the club for at least three years between the seasons of their 15th and 21st birthday. The Portuguese side SL Benfica leads the table with about €379 M.

Issue number 369 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks teams from 50 top divisions worldwide according to the number of players fielded in domestic league games during the last 365 days. For current big-5 league teams, the values stretch from an eye-staggering 55 players for Genoa down to only 27 for West Ham United.

Issue number 368 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post crunched the InStat data on goal scoring chances and effective playing time for 36 European leagues since 2018/19 (or 2019) to determine the level of “game openness”. The findings show that clubs in leagues from the North/West part of the continent tend to play more openly than those from the South/East.

Issue number 367 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks current big-5 league clubs according to their net spending on transfer operations concluded over the last ten seasons. Manchester United tops the table with a negative balance of more than one billion euro, ahead of Manchester City and Paris St-Germain. Fourteen English clubs are in the top 20 of clubs with the most negative net transfer spending.

Issue number 366 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 100 players born in 2002 or after active in 31 European leagues outside of the big-5 with the highest InStat Index. The latter takes into consideration footballers’ pitch production depending on position played (centre back, winger, etc.) and the general level of the matches in which they participated.

Issue number 365 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the top 100 list of clubs having trained the most players fielded in domestic league matches by 286 teams from 15 leagues worldwide during the second semester 2021. The Argentineans of Boca Juniors are at the top of the table with 78 footballers trained, 18 more than city rivals River Plate. The Colombians of Deportivo Cali complete the podium with 56 players from their academy.

The 364th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the rankings of European clubs having obtained penalties the most frequently since the start of the 2018/19 season as per InStat data. The sample is composed of teams always present in one of the 31 leagues surveyed during this period. Crvena Zvezda is at the top with a penalty every 239 minutes, while Manchester United heads the rankings in the big-5 (one every 299 minutes).

Issue number 363 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post compares points achieved by teams from 32 leagues of UEFA member associations with points expected according to a statistical model including ball possession and the number and distance of both shots taken and conceded (InStat data). With 2.71 points per match achieved and 1.75 expected, the Romanians of CFR Cluj have the most positive gap (+0.96). The Italian second division side Vicenza Virtus are at the opposite end (-0.81).

Issue number 362 of the Weekly Post presents the traditional bi-annual list of the 100 big-5 league players with the top estimated transfer value according to the CIES Football Observatory algorithm. The Real Madrid’s Brazilian rising star Vinícius Júnior (€166 million) outranks Phil Foden and Erling Haaland. These figures are irrespective of eventual buy-out clauses in players’ contract.

Issue number 361 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the best XI for each of the five major European leagues. Players were selected according to the CIES Performance Index powered by Opta data. Only footballers fielded for at least 900 domestic league minutes since the start of the 2021/22 season were included in the line-ups.