Which 5 Clubs Field Youth Players the Most?
Scouts are often tasked with finding hidden youth gems. To do that, it pays off to know where to find them. The study by CIES Football Observatory looks at how much playing time clubs give to players under 21 years old across 58 leagues around the world. Data is collected from matches in domestic competitions, focusing on which clubs prioritize youth development by offering the most minutes to young players. The data was collected from 09/09/2021 to 09/09/2024. Here are the top five teams that focus the most on youth: Rukh Lviv (Ukraine) – 41.1% of match time goes to under-21 players FC Nordsjælland (Denmark) – 40.7% FC Olympic (Uzbekistan) – 39.9% MŠK Žilina (Slovakia) – 39.7% RB Salzburg (Austria) – 37.4% Do you notice the lack of Big-5 clubs (teams that play in one of the top five football leagues in Europe) in the Top 5. Even in the Top 10! FC Barcelona is the leading team considering only Big-5 leagues, but it is only placed in 17th on the overall table. For more details, you can visit the original source here
