The 99th Monthly Report analyses the clubs that have trained the footballers having played in Europe’s big-5 league matches over the last twenty years. This study is particularly close to our hearts as it symbolically refers to the twentieth anniversary of the CIES Football Observatory, which we are celebrating this year. It is also a way of highlighting the training work of teams around the world and paying tribute to them.

This report presents the players from 65 leagues born in 2004 or later who performed the best during the ongoing season or the one just completed for leagues organised over the calendar year. The footballers have been divided into 20 categories according to the main position played and their technical characteristics. The method developed enables us to produce relevant scouting reports for any player segment in a rapid and efficient manner.

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This report analyses the transfer fee investments made by clubs on a global scale over the last decade. The first chapter reveals the evolution of the sums committed by teams, both in total and by league, as well as the net balance sheets of transfer operations at the latter level. The second chapter focuses on clubs from three angles: expenditure, income and net spending.

Women’s football steadily grows and the process of professionalisation is continuing. Although still comparatively less available than for men, data on the demographic profile of female players is now more accessible for women too. This report analyses the composition of 223 teams from 19 leagues around the world: 14 European and 5 non-European.

This report examines from a spatial perspective the presence of expatriate players in professional leagues. The analysis covers 135 leagues around the world, including 83 from UEFA member associations, with May 1st as the reference date for both 2024 and 2020, the year chosen to present data on migration trends.

This report presents the CIES Football Observatory’s approach to assessing the level of performance of outfield players in six different areas of the game: ground defence, distribution, take on, chance creation, finishing and aerial play. For each of these areas, indices have been created by considering players’ related actions, both in terms of their frequency in relation to the minutes played and, where relevant, their success rate.

This report analyses the data on high intensity pressure produced by the French company SkillCorner. It presents several statistical models highlighting the link between teams’ styles of play, the level of pressure experienced by players and their ability to retain possession. It shows the importance of contextualising individual performance in relation to that of the team and the position occupied.

This report analyses from a spatial perspective the origin of transfer revenues collected by clubs worldwide between 2014 and 2023 according to their parent association. In total, clubs earned no less than €75 billion: around two-thirds from international transfers and the rest from domestic ones. However, this proportion varies greatly from country to country.

This report studies the fielding of minor footballers, under 18 years of age, in matches of the five major European leagues played over the 15-year-period between the 1st January 2009 until the 31st December 2023. The analysis covers the differences observed between leagues, the evolution over time, as well as the characteristics of the players concerned.

This report highlights the players born in 2003 or later who have accumulated the most playing experience over the last year (as at 11 December 2023), according the exclusive CIES Football Observatory ‘experience score’ metrics, in nine positions: goalkeepers, centre backs, left backs, right backs, holding midfielders, attacking midfielders, left wingers, right wingers and centre forwards.

The 89th edition of the CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report compares 48 leagues around the world according to the demographic characteristics of the players in their squads: 31 top divisions of UEFA member associations, nine of CONMEBOL, six of AFC and two of CONCACAF: the American MLS and the Mexican Liga MX.

Thanks to the new ’game intelligence’ data produced by our partner SkillCorner, it is now possible to understand all the types of runs made by players during a match. This report analyses the distribution of eight categories of ‘call-for-the-ball’ runs in 27 competitions around the world, highlighting different styles of attacking play at both club and league level.

This Monthly Report analyses the financial flows of football transfers on a global scale during the decade between 2014 and 2023. It presents the evolution of transfer fees incurred by clubs, their breakdown according to the age and position of the players concerned or the geographical area of recruiting teams, as well as the economic balance sheets of transfer operations, at both league and club level.

This report is a comparative analysis of the composition of squads of the eight clubs having reached the quarter-finals of the 2022/23 edition of the UEFA Women’s Champions League. It notably presents the average age of line-ups fielded by each team and their league of belonging, as well as the origins of the expatriate players active in the ten main domestic leagues worldwide.

The 85th Monthly Report of the CIES Football Observatory studies the presence of expatriate footballers in 2,200 clubs participating in 135 leagues around the world: 83 from UEFA member associations and 52 from associations belonging to other confederations. In total, we analysed the origin of 62,610 players who were in the first team squad of their employer club on May 1st, including 14,405 expatriates.

The 84th CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report analyses the dialectic between positional and fast attacks using data collected by InStat. The data refers to the current season for 52 leagues with more than ten games played, and the last completed season for 23 additional ones. The analysis thus covers no less than 18,000 matches.

The temporary transfer of players is a practice much in vogue in professional football. It is used, notably, to allow the development of young players who do not yet have sufficient playing experience or a good enough sporting level to play in their owner club. But to what extent are young players concerned? And more generally, what is the percentage of players on loan? What are the differences according to leagues and positions played? Which clubs loan the most players?
This report answers these questions through the analysis of the characteristics of players present on the 1st March 2023 in the first team squads of 1,254 teams in 75 leagues from 57 associations worldwide.

This report analyses the transfer fees invested over the past ten seasons by clubs worldwide so as to measure the evolution of the sums involved and the inflation at the level of players’ prices. The latter is measured both in a global manner for all footballers whatever their characteristics, as well as for particular market segments.

This report identifies 200 players – the top 10 in 20 classification categories – who were born after the 1st January 2002 and have gained the most playing experience in 2022. It is a showcase of the exclusive CIES Football Observatory approach for player scouting, gathering within a coherent framework different and complementary information such as playing time, competitive level, positions, technical domains of activity, age, contract duration and transfer value.

This report traces the development paths of players selected for the 2022 FIFA men’s World Cup. It analyses the current clubs and leagues of World Cup participants (chapter “Employment”), the clubs and associations where these footballers have been for at least three years between their 15th and 21st birthday (chapter “Training”), as well as the teams and senior leagues where they have played official matches up until they turned 23 (chapter “Development”).

Since 2009, the CIES Football Observatory carries out a census of players from clubs in 31 top divisions of UEFA member associations, enabling us to better understand the dynamics at work in the European football players’ labour market. This report presents the demographic portrait of players, clubs and leagues across Europe, as well the main trends observed.

This report compares the recruitment policies of big-5 league teams from the perspective of the age of players signed. The first part analyses the average age of recruitment of players currently in squads, both by league and by club. The second part studies the policies pursued over the past decade by the fifty clubs always present in the big-5 over this period.

This report analyses transfer fees paid by big-5 league teams (chapter “investments”), the clubs and leagues having benefited from these indemnities (chapter “receipts”), as well as the net balances at both teams’ and leagues’ level (chapter “net spending”) for transactions occurred between January 2013 and August 2022.

The June 2022 Monthly Report of the CIES Football Observatory analyses the squad make up of ten of the main women’s leagues worldwide from the aspects of players’ age, playing time of expatriate footballers and origins represented among the latter. The study covers the six-year period from 2017 to 2022.

The 75th Monthly Report analyses the origins of expatriate players in 135 professional leagues worldwide (83 European, 20 Asian, 18 South American, ten North American and four African) and presents the trends for the six-year period between 2017 and 2022.

This Monthly Report continues the reflection started in the previous edition in determining the technical profile of players. It presents a role-based approach, which is particularly useful for determining profiles based on actions carried out by players in comparison to teammates, independently of their position on the pitch.

The 73rd edition of the CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report analyses the characteristics of coaches from 1,866 teams from 126 leagues in 89 countries worldwide. The study focuses on the coaches’ age, their tenure duration since their entry into office up until the 1st March 2022, their origin (national/expatriate) and their sporting biography (former professional player or not).

This Monthly Report presents the method developed by the CIES Football Observatory to determine the technical profile of footballers, ranking them in different groups and establishing hierarchies within the latter. To do this, we have based ourselves on the data produced by our partners from InStat referring to the actions (shots, crosses, interceptions, etc.) undertaken by 7,215 players from 36 European leagues.

This Monthly Report compares ten non-European leagues and the top five European ones from the point of view of the demographic characteristics of players involved. The comparison covers footballers fielded in domestic league games during the second semester of 2021.

This Monthly Report presents the method developed by the CIES Football Observatory to rank players globally by combining their playing time with the sporting level of the teams for which they played or the competitions they participated in. The so-called “experience capital” method is particularly useful to scout young players.

The 69th Monthly Report analyses the data from the annual census carried out since 2009 by the CIES Football Observatory on players from 31 European top men divisions. It first presents the changes observed on a demographic level and then highlights the clubs that stand out the most from league rivals from the point of view of age, the presence of club-trained players, that of expatriates, as well as squad stability.

Since last summer, the CIES Football Observatory has had the pleasure of working with match data produced by SkillCorner. This Monthly Report focuses on the distance covered by players during matches played during the 2020 or 2020/21 seasons in 31 competitions from both Europe and America. The study analyses the distances covered according to speed and present comparisons with regard to leagues, team results and player position.

This report analyses the sums paid in transfer indemnities by big-5 league teams (chapter “investments”), the clubs and championships who benefited from these investments (chapter “receipts”), as well as the net balances for both big-5 league teams and the five major European leagues themselves (chapter “net spending”). The period covered stretches from the winter 2012 transfer window to the summer 2021 one.

This report studies the changes occurred during the past five years in ten of the principal women’s leagues worldwide from the aspect of the players’ age, the percentage of expatriate footballers in teams, as well as that of full international players. It notably shows the growing influence of the major European men’s clubs in the sphere of women’s football.

This Monthly Report analyses the presence of expatriate footballers in 145 leagues from 96 national associations worldwide. On the 1st of May 2021, despite the pandemic, the number of expatriates increased by 639 in comparison to the same date in 2020: from 13,025 to 13,664. This increase in difficult circumstances confirms that the internationalisation of the footballers’ labour market is a well-established process.

This report analyses different indicators regarding the fluidity in matches played since the 1st of July 2019 in a total of 37 European competitions thanks to the data provided by InStat. The study notably reveals that the fluidity of the game depends on geographical and cultural logics.

This report presents the approach developed by the CIES Football Observatory to comparatively assess the sustainability of squads based on three elements: players’ age, the length of their stay in their employer club and the duration of their contracts. The study covers the squads of the 98 teams from the five major European championships.

This Report presents the second CIES Football Obaervatory analysis on the demographic profile of players and teams of four Latin American leagues: the Brazilian, Argentinean, Mexican and Chilean top divisions. The study comprises 2,260 footballers having played domestic league minutes during the second semester of the 2020 calendar year for one of the 80 clubs from the competitions surveyed.

This Monthly Report presents the principal results of a questionnaire survey carried out between December 2020 and January 2021 to know the opinion of fans on the professional game. It focuses on the following thematic areas: match events, scheduling, spectacle, access to the spectacle, revenues, inequalities, abuses, gender and transfers.

The 60th Monthly Report presents the methodology of the CIES Football Observatory for the comparison of the technical performance of players in a statistically objective manner and applies it to footballers in 35 domestic leagues of UEFA member associations. The data used was produced by the company InStat. It refers to the 2020/21 season (or 2020 for the summer championships).

The 59th Monthly Report presents the findings of the annual census carried out since 2009 on players present in the clubs from 31 top division European male leagues. For 2020, the sample is composed of 12,088 footballers from 479 teams. The study reveals that the pandemic strengthened the gaps in the profile of players according to the sporting and economic level of clubs.

Since the propagation of COVID, speculations on the consequences of the virus on the professional football economy have been widespread. For the first time, this report studies the real impact of the pandemic on the footballers’ transfer market. The analysis covers three areas: the volume of investments, the typology of transfers (permanent, temporary, free, paid, etc.) and the price of players.

The manner in which people live and practice football throughout the world is a good indicator of country-specific features. This Monthly Report compares 87 top divisions worldwide from the point of view of the number of yellow and red cards given by referees during matches played between the 2015/16 (or 2016) and 2019/20 (or 2020) seasons.

This Monthly Report analyses the characteristics of the coaches at the head of 1,646 teams from 110 leagues in 79 countries worldwide. The study covers three aspects: the age, the length of stay in the club managed and the origin (national/expatriate). The Report also presents the rankings of the most represented origins among expatriate coaches.

The 55th Monthly Report of the CIES Football Observatory analyses the contribution of national associations worldwide from the point of view of the production of professional players. Independently of the modalities of calculation, Brazil emerges as the principle worldwide power. France and Spain complete the podium.

The 54th Monthly Report analyses the career paths of players present in March 2020 in the five major European leagues. The study focuses on the last club where the footballers played before making their debut in the big-5. It identifies clubs and countries that act as a stepping-stone for players to access the world’s wealthiest and most competitive championships.

Since 2010, the CIES Football Observatory has been at the forefront of pioneering work in developing a scientific method to estimate the transfer values of footballers based on sums previously paid for players with similar characteristics. This report goes through the variables included in the statistical model developed, reveals the predictive power of the latter and presents several applications of the approach put into place.

This Monthly Report analyses the technical performance data collected by our partners OptaPro for the 2019 regular season of the Major League Soccer (MLS) of the United States and Canada. The study shows that the style of football played in the MLS differs from that of the five major European leagues in two principal aspects: the pressing on opponents and the aerial game.

This report turns its eye exclusively to Latin America. Based on the model of the annual study carried out since 2009 for 31 European leagues, it compares four top division Latin American championships from the point of view of the demographic characteristics of players: the Brazilian Serie A, the Argentinean Superliga, the Chilean Primera División and the Mexican Liga MX. The study covers 79 clubs and 2,015 footballers

The 50th Monthly Report of the CIES Football Observatory analyses the make-up of the 42 teams having always been present within the five major European leagues over the course of the decade 2010. Although money is more than ever a key factor, squad stability stemming from good strategic planning and the ability of clubs to get the best out of the talents trained in their youth academies remain crucial success criteria even in the today’s hyper-commercial and globalised environment

The 49th Monthly Report of the CIES Football Observatory analyses clubs from 31 European top divisions from the standpoint of the demographic characteristics of their players for the period from 2009 to 2019. Particularly noticeable between 2009 and 2018, the trend in the European labour market for footballers towards less stability and a greater international mobility has declined over the past year

The 48th Monthly Report of the CIES Football Observatory analyses the evolution of the number and characteristics of footballers having played on loan for teams of the five major European championships during the last decade. It notably shows that clubs from these leagues take more and more players on loan: from 2.62 per club and season between 2009 and 2014, to 3.09 between 2014 and 2019 (+18%). In 2018/2019, footballers on loan played a record number of minutes within the big-5: 11.5%.

Since its creation in 2005, the CIES Football Observatory has been monitoring the transfer of players through information published by clubs and the media. This Monthly Report analyses the sums paid in transfer indemnities by big-5 league teams, the clubs and championships who benefited from these investments, the net balance sheets for both teams and leagues, as well as inflation observed year by year since 2010.

This Report analyses the composition of teams participating in the five of the most developed women’s professional leagues worldwide: four European leagues (Germany, Sweden, France and England), as well as the National Women’s Soccer League in the United States. It reveals that the age of players increases, international mobility grows and the concentration of the best footballers within a limited number of clubs independently of their origin pursues its course.

This Monthly Report analyses the presence of expatriate footballers in 147 leagues from 98 national associations. Brazil is clearly at the top of the rankings for countries exporting footballers, ahead of France and Argentina. The most frequented migratory route originates from Brazil and ends in Portugal (261 players). England and Italy are the chief importing countries of footballers.

The 44th Monthly Report of the CIES Football Observatory analyses match attendances in 51 national football leagues from 42 countries. The first part focuses on 26 championships. It retraces the evolution in attendances over the last fifteen years. The second part compares the attendances recorded over the last five seasons for all of the 51 leagues included in the analysis.

This Monthly Report focuses on the top English football division: the Premier League. It analyses the evolution of the origin of players fielded over the past ten years. It shows that the percentage of players having grown up in England, the “nationals”, has progressively fallen to reach a new negative record level over the current season. The proportion of goals scored by Englishmen shows a similar trend.

This 42nd Monthly Report analyses the evolution of the competitive balance in the group stages of the Champions League since the introduction of the current format in 2003/04. The different indicators analysed illustrate a clear trend towards less balance and more predictability.

The 41st CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report analyses the link between ball possession and results in 35 championships from UEFA member associations using the data used generated by the specialist InStat company. Though the link between success and possession is undeniable, it is only from a certain level that ball control allows teams to improve significantly their results. This is probably the source of the erroneous but widespread idea that possession is not a key factor for success.

Competitive balance is a crucial issue for the whole of collective sports. The 40th Monthly Report of the CIES Football Observatory analyses this issue from a spatio-temporal perspective. The sample includes 24 European competitions over a period of ten seasons between 2008/09 and 2017/18. All of the indicators analysed illustrate a trend towards a greater imbalance in European football.

The long-term work carried out within the CIES Football Observatory focuses, in particular, on the demographic analysis of the football players’ labour market. The surveys carried out over the past decade allow us to reveal very clear trends. As illustrated in this report, the footballers’ labour market in Europe is becoming deterritorialised by a decreasing presence of club-trained players, a stronger presence of expatriate footballers and greater mobility.

This report analyses club strategies in the area of player turnover for the five major European leagues since 2005/06. It reveals that too many changes in line-ups do not constitute a good strategy for optimising results. On the contrary, high turnover levels tend to affect players’ confidence and aggravate the situation.

The 37th CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report analyses from a financial standpoint transfer operations carried out by big-5 league clubs since 2010. It notably highlights the key role played by the Premier League in the structuration of the market. During the eight-year period analysed, English top division clubs are responsible for 78.3% of the overall big-5 league deficit for transfer operations.

Football offers incredibly interesting possibilities to when it comes to data-driven analysis. This e-book regroups the Monthly Reports published by the CIES Football Observatory over the course of the 2017/18 season. Two research notes are also included. The contents mainly relate to our three key areas of expertise: the demography study of the players’ labour market, the analysis of the technical performance of both teams and players, as well as the economic study of the transfer market.

The 36th CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report analyses the composition of squads in five major women’s leagues: four European (Germany, Sweden, France and England), as well as the Women’s National Soccer League in the United States. The study notably highlights the increases in the average age of players. The number of expatriate footballers goes also up both on the pitch and in squads.

The 35th edition of the CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report analyses the presence of expatriate players in the world. The sample is composed of 12,425 expatriate footballers present on the 1st of May 2018 in 2,235 teams from 142 leagues of 93 national associations. Brazil is the most represented country (1,236 expatriates), followed by France (821) and Argentina (760). The nationals from these three associations make up 22.7% of the total number of expatriates.

The first CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report published in January 2015 studied club stability across Europe. Three years later, the thirty-fourth edition develops this issue by illustrating the value of long-term planning for football clubs. The indicator selected is the percentage of players recruited by their employer club since less than one year.

The analysis of the presence of club-trained players in squads across Europe is particularly interesting when it comes to comparing football cultures and strategies on an international level. The report covers first team squad members of clubs from 31 top division European leagues. It relies on the annual census carried out by the CIES Football Observatory on the 1st of October of every year since 2009.

The demographic analysis of squads is a key research area of the CIES Football Observatory. The 32nd edition of the Monthly Report analyses the age structure of teams in 31 top division European leagues. This allows us to show discrepancies on an international level, while also investigating the links between the age structure of teams and success.

The 31st CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report analyses transfer networks from different angles. Firstly, it studies the destinations of expatriates from the three main exporting countries: Brazil, Argentina and France. It then analyses from a historical perspective the recruitment areas of big-5 league teams. The same study is carried out at club level for Real Madrid, Manchester United, AS Rome, Bayern Munich and Paris St-Germain.

The thirtieth Monthly Report of the CIES Football Observatory analyses the profile of the 32 teams that have qualified for the final phase of the 2018 FIFA World Cup™. The study covers the thematics of age, height, country of birth and employer association of players fielded by each squad during the qualifying matches.

This Monthly Report analyses the evolution of the demographics of the European football players’ labour market since 2009. The study covers the thematics of training (club-trained players), internationalisation (expatriate footballers) and stability (players recruited during the year). The statistical indicators that have been reviewed allow to compare policies pursued by clubs in composing their squads on both a temporal and spatial level.