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.

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 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.

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).

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.

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 99.0 in chance creation.

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).

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).

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 ici). This Weekly Post presents the hundred U23 midfielders from 46 leagues around the world with the highest values in ground defence.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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).

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 with a score of 91.5 out of 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 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.c

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).

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.

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).

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).

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.

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).

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.

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 not 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%).

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 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.

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).

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.

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).

England’s Jude Bellingham is currently the player in the world with the highest value on the transfer market. According to the CIES Football Observatory’s statistical model, after a very successful first season at Real Madrid, with just a few days to go before the Champions League final, his fair price has now reached €280m.

Good squad planning is a key factor in the success of clubs. The 464th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks more than 700 clubs from 59 leagues around the world according to a continuity index that considers the stability of the squad, its age structure and the contract policy. This allows us revealing the teams that are both the most stable and the best prepared to maintain a good level of stability in the seasons to come.

The 464th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the outfield footballers whose performances have had the greatest impact during the 2023/24 season in 54 leagues around the world.

The 463rd CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks attacking players (wingers and centre forwards) in 30 leagues around the world according to the amount of defensive work performed.

Issue 462 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the territorial anchorage of almost 1,000 teams in 58 leagues around the world from the point of view of the proportion of national players and club-trained footballers among those fielded in the domestic league over the last year. The territorial anchorage index reflects the gap from the general average for these two variables, with a maximum score for Athletic Club (100% of nationals and 62% of ‘trained’).

The 461st CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 100 players in the world who have not yet celebrated their 20th birthday having accumulated the most playing experience* during the last year. The highest ’experience capital’ score was recorded for Benfica’s midfielder João Neves. The Portuguese international has played no less than 4,905 official game minutes, of which 97% as a starter, at an excellent level over the last 365 days.

Issue number 460 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks 30 leagues around the world according to a ’fast runs’ index based on three physical variables produced exclusively by SkillCorner: sprints, speed and accelerations.

Issue number 459 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the world’s top 100 players who have not yet turned 23 and whose transfer value has increased the most over the last six months. Barcelona’s and Spain’s 16-year-old prodigy Lamine Yamal tops the list with an increase of €134m (from €11m to €145m).

The 458th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights the teams in 61 leagues around the world having fielded U21 footballers for the highest percentage of minutes in the domestic league matches played over the last 365 days.

Issue number 457 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks almost 800 clubs from 48 leagues around the world according to the average age of recruitment of the first team players signed over the last ten transfer windows (July 2019 to date). The lowest value overall was recorded for the Austrians of RB Salzburg (20.93 years), while the highest was measured for the Qatari side Al-Gharafa SC (30.27 years).

The Weekly Post number 456 of the CIES Football Observatory presents the ten players with the highest estimated transfer values across 66 leagues worldwide (the most important outside the big-5).

The 455th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks teams from 54 leagues around the world according to their shooting efficiency. The latter was measured from the residuals of a statistical model explaining 78% of the differences in goals scored per team (not including penalties).

The 454th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 20 outfield players for six positions playing in 28 leagues around the world whose number of accelerations* per match (SkillCorner data) deviates most positively from the value expected with respect to their position and their team’s style of play (level of possession, pressure and verticality), according to a statistical model explaining more than half of the differences observed between players.

Issue number 453 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the StatsPerform and Wyscout data on the number of cards, fouls and injury time measured over the last year for 71 leagues around the world. The study shows major differences between leagues in terms of all the indicators taken into account, reflecting different ways of interpreting the game by both players and referees.

Number 452 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 169 clubs in the world whose volume of incoming or outgoing player transactions over the last five seasons exceeded the €100 million threshold, as well as their net spending for the last ten, the last five and the last season.

On this Valentine’s Day, the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post highlights the footballers from 60 leagues around the world who have been in the first team squad of their current club for the longest uninterrupted period.

The 450th issue of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the game intelligence data produced exclusively by our partners SkillCorner to reveal the one hundred midfielders with the best statistics in terms of ball retention under high pressure in 28 leagues around the world.

The 449th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 402 footballers who played in the big-5 before turning 18 during the 15-year period from January 2009 to December 2023. Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma is the player who has played the most minutes in the five major European leagues as a minor (4,879), followed by Alban Lafont, Eduardo Camavinga, Florian Wirtz, Pablo Gavi and Warren Zaïre-Emery (ongoing).

The 448th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 50 clubs in the world with the most positive and negative transfer balances for non-academy players signed and transferred between 2014 and 2023. The figures range from a positive balance of €386 million for LOSC Lille (Pépé, Osimhen, Botman, etc.) to a negative balance of €631 million for Barcelona (Coutinho, Dembélé, Griezmann, etc.).

The 447th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 100 centre backs in the world with the best aerial play statistics* according to an index computed from the number of aerial duels won, in relation to the playing time and the frequency of aerial duels at employer team level, the percentage of aerial duels won and the sporting level of the matches played. Liverpool’s Dutchman Virgil van Dijk is ahead of Bayern Munich’s South Korean Min-jae Kim.

The 446th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 100 clubs with the most profitable academies in the world in terms of revenues generated over the last ten years by the transfer of players who spent at least three seasons there between the ages of 15 and 21. Portuguese side Benfica are clearly in the lead with €516 million, two thirds of which has been collected in the last five years.

The 445th issue of the Weekly Post presents the 100 players in the world with the highest estimated transfer values according to the CIES Football Observatory statistical model. English youngster Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid) tops the list with a transfer value of €267.5m, ahead of Norway’s Erling Haaland (Manchester City) and his two Brazilian teammates Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo Goes.

The last CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post for 2023 ranks the clubs in 53 leagues around the world according to the average size of the line-ups fielded in the current or last completed season. Almost 13 centimetres separate the ‘tallest’ and ‘shortest’ teams: Hungary’s Kecskeméti TE (187.13cm) and Japan’s Sagan Tosu (174.18cm).

Issue 443 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the exclusive data from our partners SkillCorner on the players* with record values in 40 competitions around the world for three indicators: distance covered, number of sprints during possession, as well as the same indicator during phases without the ball, in all three cases per 90’ of presence on the pitch.

Issue 442 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the footballers in the world who have played the most minutes in official matches (clubs as well as national U21- and A-teams) up until December 4th. Topping the list in absolute terms is the Paraguayan centre back Gustavo Gómez of the Brazilian side Palmeiras, with 6,213 minutes in 70 matches.

The 441st CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post crunches data from our partners Wyscout on shots attempted and goals scored during the current season to determine the best finishers* in 65 leagues on all continents. With 1.57 goals per 90’ and a conversion rate of 37% in relation to shots taken, Bayern Munich’s centre-forward Harry Kane tops the list.

The 440th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks teams from 60 leagues around the world according to the percentage of domestic league minutes played by club-trained footballers during the current season. The Basques of Athletic Club (68.9%) top the Europe’s big-5 leagues table, while the Ukrainians of Dynamo Kiev (82.9%) have the highest proportion in absolute terms and the Colombians of Envigado (67.8%) among non-European clubs.

Issue number 439 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 100 players in the world with the best statistics in terms of chance creation during the current season, according to an index* developed from Wyscout data. At the top of the list is Paris St-Germain’s winger Ousmane Dembélé. The Frenchman outranks Leroy Sané (Bayern Munich) et Nico Williams (Athletic Club).

Issue 438 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post combines SkillCorner’s physical and tactical (’game intelligence’) data with Wyscout’s technical ones to create a direct play index. Based on 100, the latter allows us ranking teams from 27 leagues worldwide from those with the most direct attacking style to those with the most elaborated offensive play.

Issue 437 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the top 100 dribblers in the world among players who have not yet celebrated their 23rd birthday. FC Barcelona’s prodigy Lamine Yamal (2007) tops the rankings in the European big-5, while Club Brugge’s superb Norwegian talent Antonio Nusa (2005) heads the list in the other 65 leagues analysed.

The 436th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the rankings of the teams that have trained the most players active in 48 of the world’s major leagues. Ajax (86 players trained) is ahead of Benfica (85) and Sporting CP (83), while the Uruguayans of Defensor SC (82 trained) top the table among non-European teams ahead of Boca Juniors (81) and River Plate (79).

The 435th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the Wyscout data on passes to draw up a global ranking of the world’s top 100 midfield distributors among those who played at least 450 domestic league minutes during the current season. The top three are Rodri (Manchester City), Frankie de Jong (Barcelona) and Toni Kroos (Real Madrid).

The 434th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks 851 teams in 53 top divisions worldwide according to the average age of the line-ups fielded since the start of the current season. Values range from 20.97 years of age for FK Minsk of Belarus to 32.12 years for Independiente Petrolero of Bolivia. The average for all the clubs analysed is 27.24 years.

Issue number 433 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents an analysis of the data produced exclusively by our partner SkillCorner on the type of runs made by players when their team is in possession of the ball. Clubs from 27 leagues around the world are ranked according to the percentage of runs for short or backward passes, highlighting the teams whose players like to receive the ball at their feet.

The 432nd CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post analyses the rich data produced by our partners Wyscout to highlight the clubs that most dominate their opponents in 69 leagues across the world. The ranking is established on the basis of the average performance ratio with respect to opponents for four game actions: shots, shots from the box, passes and passes into the opponent’s third.

Issue number 431 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks 70 leagues around the world according to the average duration of matches during the current or last completed season (Wyscout data). The overall average is 100’15’’, with a maximum of over 106’ in the top two Saudi competition levels.

The 430th edition of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the top 100 teams in the world having invested the most on transfer fees (including add-ons regardless of effective payment) to recruit players currently in their squad. Four teams head the list with investments of at least one billion euros: three English clubs (Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City) and one French (Paris St-Germain).

CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post number 429 presents the net transfer spending of the 100 most active clubs in terms of the financial volume of transactions concluded over the last decade. During this period, Manchester United has the most negative balance (-€1.396 billion), while the Portuguese side SL Benfica has the best (+€764 million).

Issue number 428 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 100 players born in 2002 or later who are not yet playing for a big-5 league club, but whose level of experience accumulated over the past year puts them in the best position to successfully take their careers to the next level.

Issue 427 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks the teams in 69 leagues around the world according to the average experience level of players in the squad. Experience is calculated by weighting minutes played in official club or national team matches over the last year by the sporting level of the games, with a maximum possible value of 100.

The last CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post before the summer break presents the top 100 clubs in the world with the most followers on four social networks: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. With 362 million followers, Real Madrid is ahead its big rival Barcelona (342 million). Manchester United is the only other club with more than 200 million followers, while Paris St-Germain ranks fourth (187 million).

Issue number 425 of the Weekly Post presents the top 100 estimated transfer values using the statistical model exclusively developed by the CIES Football Observatory. Manchester City and Premier League top scorer Erling Haaland heads the list with a value of almost €250 million (eventual buy-out clause not considered). Two other footballers under 23 years of age, Vinícius Júnior and Bukayo Saka, who just extended his Arsenal’s contract, complete the podium.

Issue number 424 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post defines the attacking styles of teams from 23 leagues worldwide on the basis of the data on players’ high intensity runs exclusively produced by SkillCorner (>20km/h for at least 0.7 seconds). For each league, clubs are ranked from those whose players perform more in-possession high intensity runs than expected with respect to the minutes of possession to those who perform less.

Issue number 423 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks 60 top division leagues around the world according to the percentage of coaches in place at the start of the 2022/23 season who are no more in charge today. Of the 850 teams analysed, 484 changed coaches during the season, corresponding to a percentage of 56.9%.

The 422nd edition of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the ranking of the 100 associations with the highest number of expatriate players in 135 leagues worldwide. With a record number of 1,289 expatriates, Brazil tops the list ahead of France (1,033) and Argentina (905). Nigeria, Japan and the United States heads the rankings for the other main confederations.

The 421st Weekly Post presents the player with the highest transfer value according to the CIES Football Observatory statistical model for 1,229 clubs in 74 leagues around the world. For each player, we also present the proportion that his value represents with respect to the total value of all footballers under contract with its owner club.

The 420th edition of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post uses Wyscout data on dribbling in domestic league matches over the last 365 days to compile a world ranking of the best dribblers according to an index combining the frequency and percentage of successful dribbles, as well as the sporting level of teammates and opponents.

Issue 419 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post lists the 200 U20 players in 75 leagues around the world (20 in each of the ten positions considered) who have accumulated the most official game experience during last year. The highest score overall was recorded for Barcelona’s prodigy Gavi, whose relative experience capital is 4.37 times higher than the average measured for players of the same age and position.

The 418th edition of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks 75 leagues around the world according to the frequency of penalties awarded by referees since 1 January 2020. The Egyptian Premier League heads the rankings with a penalty whistled every 172 minutes (not including injury time) compared to a global average of 271 minutes.

Issue number 417 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the percentage of minutes played by footballers who had not yet turned 20 in domestic league matches played over the last five years by 1,168 clubs in 76 leagues worldwide. Denmark’s Nordsjælland crushes the competition with a record percentage of 37%.