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News

Wed. 22 November 2023

Global rankings of club-trained players’ employment

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.

Olympique Lyonnais (45.6%) and Real Sociedad (45.4%) complete the podium in the big-5. The highest values in the English Premier League were measured for Arsenal (22.1%), Manchester United (20.4%) and Chelsea (19.8%), while the teams with the most confidence in youth academy graduates in the Italian Serie A and the German Bundesliga are, respectively, Atalanta BC (18.7%) and SC Freiburg (34.5%).

Outside Europe, Envigado is ahead of Argentina’s Gimnasia La Plata (60.1%) and Vélez Sarsfield (52.1%), followed by Shanghai Port (51.4%) and two Mexican clubs: Pachuca (51.3%) and Chivas (48.8%). The Post also shows the number of club-trained players fielded, with a maximum of 30 for Gimnasia, as well as their average age, with a minimum of 18.56 years for the Venezuelan side UCV FC among teams having used at least ten club-trained players.

Exclusive data for more demographic indicators for clubs in 31 top divisions of UEFA member associations are available in this online tool.

* Club-trained players are those who spent at least three years between the ages of 15 and 21 years in their club of employment (seasons of their 15th and 21st birthdays included).

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