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.
Weekly Post 484
Player trading: results per club
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.
Weekly Post 483
Age of men’s national teams: global analysis
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).
Weekly Post 482
Young revelation player of the year
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.
Weekly Post 481
Transfer system and the Premier League
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.
Weekly Post 480
Shots from danger zone and results
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
Weekly Post 479
Most expensive U21s: four players worth over €100m
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).
Weekly Post 478
Benfica world leader in player training
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.
Weekly Post 477
Age at recruitment: BlueCo in Red Bull footsteps
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).
Weekly Post 476
Take on index: world rankings
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).
Weekly Post 475
Transfer values of players owned: Real at the top
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.
Weekly Post 474
Chance creation index: João Neves and Messi at the top
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).