CIES Archives - Inside World Football

CIES Football Observatory releases ‘data-driven’ best XIs

May 21 – Newly-crowned English Premier League champions Arsenal unsurprisingly dominate the Premier League Team of the Season selected by the CIES Football Observatory, with five players included in the data-driven XI as the club finally gets over the line in the title race.

Mikel Arteta’s side provide nearly half of the Premier League selection, with David Raya, Jurrien Timber, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhães and Declan Rice all making the cut following another strong defensive campaign in north London.

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Brazil tops global export market according to latest CIES study

May 14 – Brazil continues to dominate football’s global export market, but France is closing fast. That’s according to figures released by the CIES Football Observatory, which show 1,455 Brazilians currently playing abroad – the most represented expatriate nationality across the 135 worldwide professional leagues analysed.

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CIES Football Observatory highlights most influential football agents

April 23 – The latest data from the CIES Football Observatory offers a clear snapshot of where influence sits in the player representation market – and it’s increasingly concentrated among a handful of scaled, often merged, agencies.

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Barcelona superstar Lamine Yamal tops CIES Football Observatory’s U23 list

April 16 – Lamine Yamal is once again setting the benchmark for football’s next generation, topping the latest CIES Football Observatory rankings of the best-performing U23 outfield players – at just 18 years old.

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Barcelona ‘the gold standard’ for giving playing time to young talent

April 9 – Latest figures from the CIES Football Observatory offer a useful snapshot of where Europe’s top leagues stand when it comes to youth development – and the gap to the rest of the world remains stark.

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CIES Football Observatory details lesser known U23 talents

March 26 – CIES Football Observatory has released its latest list of the most valuable U23 players not currently contracted to one of Europe’s ten most powerful clubs – and it is Juventus FC’s Kenan Yildiz who leads the way by some distance.

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Lionel Messi continues to excel at 38 according to latest CIES study

March 5 – Still delivering at 38, Lionel Messi continues to set the pace for attacking output across world football, according to new figures released by the CIES Football Observatory.

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Arsenal, Liverpool boast worst ‘net spends’ in transfer market according to CIES

February 12 – English Premier League leaders Arsenal have recorded the worst net spend in world football across the last two transfer windows, according to the latest weekly study from the CIES Football Observatory.

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CIES Football Observatory ranks most ‘ball-friendly’ teams within world football

February 5 – As the UEFA Champions League enters its knockout rounds, the latest study from the CIES Football Observatory has offered a timely snapshot of which clubs are best equipped to dominate matches in possession.

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Barcelona academy continues to create elite talent, at scale, suggests CIES

January 29 – Barcelona’s academy continues to do what no other club can match: generate elite talent at scale and actually hold onto it.

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FC Barcelona continue to boast the most productive academy in Europe

January 15 – Barcelona continue to boast the most productive academy in elite European football, according to the CIES Football Observatory, which tracks clubs responsible for training players currently active across Europe’s big-5 leagues.

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Lamine Yamal’s worth north of €340million in latest CIES Football Observatory release

January 8 – Barcelona sensation Lamine Yamal remains the most valuable player in world football, according to the latest CIES Football Observatory model, with the Barcelona forward now valued at €343m.

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CIES provides durability data for world’s biggest stars as workloads increase

December 18 – At a time when the cost of injuries in elite European football is edging towards £3 billion, physical robustness is fast becoming one of the most valuable – and overlooked – assets in the modern game.

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Frankfurt declared ‘most efficient’ transfer market dealer in latest CIES release

November 27 – Eintracht Frankfurt have been ranked the most efficient club in world football’s transfer market, according to new data published by the CIES Football Observatory.

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Australia’s A–League Men tops CIES Football Observatory list for U21 minutes

November 20 – The 522nd CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks 50 top divisions around the world based on how many minutes were given to U21 players eligible for that league’s national team during the 2025 calendar year.