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.