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FIFA/CIES International University Network
19.06.2015

Record high of expatriates in the best ranked teams

The CIES Football Observatory is happy to announce the update of its exclusive_database on the demographic features of big-5 league players. This interactive tool now includes data from 2010/11 up until the 2014/15 season. It allows users to compare the five major European championships in terms of age, height, club-trained players, full internationals, expatriates and squad stability.

During last season, the percentage of minutes played by club-trained footballers reached a new record low: 14.3%. In the English Premier League, players who spent at least three years between the ages of 15 and 21 in their employer club never played a fewer percentage of minutes than in 2014/15: 10.2%. The minimal level of minutes played by club-trained footballers was recorded in Italy: 8.5%.

The percentage of minutes played by expatriates is stable at around 46%. However, the percentage of players who grew up in a different country than that of their employer club reached a new record high among the five best ranked teams per league: 59.6%. This percentage was never as high as in 2014/15 in three leagues out of five: England (77.1%), Spain (57.1%) and Germany (53.1%). It is also very high in the Italian Serie A: 71.4%.