May 2 – Spain’s Athletic Club head a world ranking of clubs with the greatest reliance on home-grown players.
The report by the CIES Football Observatory, analyses the ‘territorial anchorage’ of playing squads of almost 1,000 teams in 58 leagues globally.
LaLiga’s Athletic Club rank top due to their rule of only signing players from the Basque region, meaning they have 100% national players, with 62% of them being club-trained, too.
The club demolish all of their Big 5 European league opposition, with Spanish rivals Osasuna ranking second with an index of 76.3.
Globally the Basque team is followed by Envigado from Colombia and four other Latin American clubs: Chivas Guadalajara from Mexico, Gimnasia La Plata from Argentina, Caracas from Venezuela, and Defensor from Uruguay.
Ukrainian side Dynamo Kyiv is the only other European representative in the global top 10, which is completed by Club Estudiantes from Argentina, Millonarios from Colombia, and ENPPI from Egypt.
Among the Big 5 leagues, the teams with the strongest connection to their local talent are Newcastle United in the Premier League (with Wolverhampton having the weakest link), Empoli in Serie A (Udinese being at the opposite end), Heidenheim in the Bundesliga (RB Leipzig trailing), and Le Havre in Ligue 1 (with Olympique Marseille showing the furthest gap).
The trend shows that, aside from the Bilbao anomaly, the majority of high-scoring clubs hail from the South American region (70% of the top 10).
LaLiga dominates the Big 5 leagues in terms of home-grown talent with Bilbao joined by Osasuna, Real Sociedad and FC Barcelona in the top five.
FC Barcelona particularly stand out following their reduced activity in the transfer market, opting to rely on home-grown players to protect their struggling finances.
The Premier League is particularly weak across the board, led by Newcastle United, who score the highest in the division with 49.3 on the CIES index.
Liverpool lead the Premier League’s ‘big six’ clubs with an index of 33.9, boasting the highest percentage of English nationals (38%), and the highest number of club-trained nationals (21%) amongst the elite clubs. On the flip side, Manchester United are bottom with an index of 23.
To see the full ranking, click here.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at moc.l1714666818labto1714666818ofdlr1714666818owedi1714666818sni@g1714666818niwe.1714666818yrrah1714666818