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).

Four Red Bull teams are also among the teams recruiting the youngest players on average: RB Salzburg (3rd overall behind MŠK Žilina and Rukh Lviv), RB Leipzig (3rd in Europe’s big-5 behind Strasbourg and Brentford), as well New York RB and RB Bragantino (1st and 2nd among clubs from the 19 non-European championships surveyed).

Several teams taking part in the Champions League are among those most focused on recruiting young talent, such as Shakhtar Donetsk, Sturm Graz, Real Madrid, Monaco, Stuttgart, Paris-St-Germain and Sporting CP. In contrast, teams such as Inter, Atlético Madrid and Girona focus primarily on signing experienced players.

>>> Full data