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. Bayern Munich’s German full international Joshua Kimmich tops the list among midfielders who have been confronted with at least 60 high-pressure situations during the current season.

Torino’s Italian international Samuele Ricci and Tigres UANL’s Brazilian Rafael Carioca complete the top three. Three players who have not yet turned 21 feature in the top ten: two from the Danish side Nordsjælland (Ivory Coast’s Mario Dorgeles and Denmark’s Zidan Sertdemir), as well as Paris St-Germain’s French prodigy Warren Zaïre-Emery. The youngest player in the top 100 is Tijuana’s great Mexican talent Gilberto Mora (15.9 years, 43rd).

By team, the highest values were recorded for Manchester City (84.4%), Juventus (83.8%) and Shakhtar Donetsk (83.7%). These are all clubs that attack collectively, which makes the task of players carrying the ball easier, as analysed in greater detail in this Monthly Report. This is why the Post also presents the gap measured for each player in relation to his team’s average, with WSG Tirol’s Austrian Valentino Müller a surprising leader.

* A player is considered under pressure when he is in possession of the ball and at least one opponent player nearby him is trying to either recover the ball or limit his options. For each situation, SkillCorner determines the intensity of pressure by considering the speed of the players applying it, their distance to the player in possession and the angle of their movement. More information is available here.

>>> Top 100

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 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%).

Denmark’s Nordsjælland (40.7% of minutes by U21s) and Uzbekistan’s Olympic (39.9%) complete the podium across the 58 leagues analysed, ahead of Slovakia’s MŠK Žilina and Austria’s RB Salzburg. At Europe’s big-5 league level, Barcelona outranks the French of Olympique Lyonnais (20,7%). Outside Europe, the Uruguayans of Defensor SC (23.9%) are ahead of Colombia’s Fortaleza CEIF (22.8%) and Envigado (22.5%).

The Post also presents the number of U21 footballers fielded, both in total or imported from abroad. From the latter perspective, at the top three positions are Switzerland’s FC Basel (24 foreign U21 players), Austria’s RB Salzburg (22) and Denmark’s Nordsjælland (21). Parma heads the rankings for the big-5 (16 players), while United Arab Emirates’ Al-Wasl FC tops the table among non-European clubs (13).

>>> Full data

>>> Demographic Atlas

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 Spaniard outranks his Barcelona teammate Pau Cubarsí (x2.42) and Real Madrid’s Endrick Felipe (x2.41).

Paris St-Germain’s Warren Zaïre-Emery is fourth, ahead of Manchester United’s Kobbie Mainoo. The three youngest players in the top 100 are KRC Genk’s Belgian Konstantinos Karetsas (16.8 years; 71st), LOSC Lille’s Frenchman Ayyoub Bouaddi (16.9 years; 54th) and River Plate’s Argentinian Franco Mastantuono (17.1 years; 22nd).

Outside the European big-5, the top three are Ecuador’s Kendry Páez (Independiente del Valle, on loan from Chelsea), Brazil’s Estêvão Willian (Palmeiras, also on loan from Chelsea) and Turkey’s Yasin Özcan (Kasimpaşa). In total, 38 leagues are represented in the top 100, with a maximum of 13 players for the English Premier League, followed by 10 for the French Ligue 1.

* The level of experience is calculated on the basis of last year’s official game minutes, weighted by the sporting level of matches played.

>>> Top 100

>>> The CIES Football Observatory will be present at World Football Summit (WFS) Europe (booth No. 5), which is taking place in Sevilla between Wednesday 18th September and Thursday 19th September 2024. Visit us or schedule a meeting

The 97th Monthly Report of the CIES Football Observatory analyses the financial flows of transfer operations occurred over the last decade. Despite a 10% drop compared to the record year of 2023, the amount of transfer fees invested by clubs worldwide remained at a very high level in 2024: €10.96 billion including add-ons. This is the second highest figure ever recorded.

With about €23 billion of transfer fees committed over the last decade, the English Premier League stands out clearly (28% of the total), followed by the Italian Serie A (€10.8 billion). The Premier League is also the competition with the most negative net spending since 2015 (-€11.5 billion), followed by the Saudi Pro League (-€1.8 billion). In contrast, the Portuguese Primeira Liga (+€2.3 billion) is ahead of the English Championship, the Dutch Eredivisie and the Brazilian Serie A.

In terms of individual clubs, Chelsea stands out with a record €2.78 billion invested in transfer fees over the last decade. This is 42% more than the next two biggest spenders: Manchester City and Manchester United. The latter team has the most negative net transfer balance over the last decade (-€1.30 billion) ahead of Chelsea and Paris St-Germain. Conversely, Portugal’s SL Benfica has the most positive net spending (+€816 million), well ahead of Ajax and RB Salzburg.

>>> Full report

>>> Updated Weekly Post on last summer window’s analysis per league

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. These are the highest values ever recorded (see last year’s rankings).

Manchester City and Manchester United complete the podium, with amounts including add-ons also in excess of €1 billion. Sixth with €772 million, Paris St-Germain is the only non-English team in the top seven. The French outfit ranks just behind Arsenal (€798 m) and Tottenham (€787m), while outranking Liverpool (€735m). Real Madrid (€720m) and Juventus (€626m) are the only other non-Premier League clubs in the top 10.

Al-Hilal (€485m, 13th) are first among non-big 5 league teams, ahead of three other Saudi Arabia’s clubs: Al-Nassr (€270m), Al-Ittihad (€226m) and Al-Ahli (€224m). Flamengo (€208m) clearly outranks Botafogo (€85m) and Palmeiras (€77m) for South America. In total, 19 countries are represented in the top 100, with a maximum of 24 clubs for England (the 20 Premier League sides and four teams from the Championship).

>>> Full data

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).

Overall, the expenditure fell by 13%, from €8.18 billion to €7.08 billion. English Premier League clubs were once again the biggest spenders (€2.19 billion), although their investments were also down (-€270 million, -11%). The Saudi Pro League saw the biggest drop in both absolute (-€657 million) and relative terms (-75%).

In the other leagues of the European big-5, a decline was recorded so far in the German Bundesliga (-€160 million, -20%), while investment rose in Italy’s Serie A (+€130 million, +17%), with stable figures for both Spanish Liga and France’s Ligue 1. The biggest relative increase among the 20 most active leagues was in the Brasileirão (+87 million, +136%), mainly due to the arrival of foreign capital in club ownerships.

>>> Full data