As was the case last year, on the day of the Ballon d’Or ceremony, the CIES Football Observatory took the liberty of compiling a ranking of the 50 most deserving outfield players over the past year, based on three criteria : performances across eight areas of the game according to this methodology (Impect data), the competitive level of the matches played (method) and the results of those matches.

FC Barcelona’s prodigy Lamine Yamal takes once again the top spot. The Spaniard is ahead of Bayern Munich’s Frenchman Michael Olise and his English teammate Harry Kane. In fourth place, Argentina’s Lionel Messi is the oldest player in the top fifty. He would even have been top had performances not been weighted according to the sporting level of the matches played.

Désiré Doué is fifth, just ahead of Kylian Mbappé and his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Two other FC Barcelona world champions feature in the top 10 (Pedri González and Pau Cubarsí), as does Norway’s Erling Haaland. Last year’s actual winner, France’s Ousmane Dembélé, is, however, only 27th.

>>> 2026 rankings

>>> 2025 rankings

As every year in October, the CIES Football Observatory presents a global ranking of the best training clubs* based on the number of players from their academies currently active in 49 top division leagues, the sporting level of the matches in which they participated over the past year, their playing time during the same period, and their age (the younger, the better).

SL Benfica recorded the highest training index (101.3 with 93 footballers trained). Argentina’s River Plate (training index of 95.9 and 94 academy graduates) and Boca Juniors (91.7 and 93 respectively) round out the top three. AFC Ajax is fifth, just behind Vélez Sarsfield and ahead FC Barcelona. The top 10 also includes Portugal’s Sporting CP, Spain’s Real Madrid, Uruguay’s Defensor SC, and Serbia’s Crvena Zvezda.

As for the clubs that have trained the most players currently employed by teams from Europe’s five major leagues, Real Madrid (40 players) outranks FC Barcelona (34), Manchester City (29), Stade Rennais (28), Paris Saint-Germain and AFC Ajax (both 27). Athletic Club (15) and Real Sociedad (14) are the big-5 league clubs with the most academy players in their current squad.

>>> Full rankings

* Training clubs are defined as the first teams in which footballers have played for at least three years between the seasons of their 15th and 21st birthdays (inclusive).

>>> New Prospect Sheet with Impect : Sondre Granaas.

The 557th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the rankings of teams worldwide according to the appreciation or depreciation in value of non-academy players signed over the past five years. The calculation considers the balance between transfer fees paid and received for signings who have already been permanently released, and fees paid and current transfer values for those still owned by the club.

Germany’s Eintracht Frankfurt tops the rankings with an appreciation of €527 million: +€293m for players already transferred and +€234m for those still under contract. Real Madrid is right behind with +€526 million : +€27m in “actual” capital gains and +€499m in “virtual” ones, half of which linked to Kylian Mbappé (signed on a free transfer and whose current value exceeds €160 million) and Arda Güler (€30 million vs €125 million).

Three other clubs with sound sports policies and shrewd transfer market strategies round out the top 5: Paris Saint-Germain, SL Benfica and Manchester City. In contrast, Saudi clubs are overrepresented among those whose signings since 2022 have depreciated the most, with Al-Hilal SFC recording the worst balance (-€502 million). The largest depreciation among European clubs was recorded by Manchester United (-€405 million).

*Only clubs whose total transfer spending and income since 2022 exceeds €50 million are in the rankings. Add-ons are included regardless of whether they have been paid or received, as well as the incomes generated through sell-ons.

>>> All the data

The research team at the CIES Football Observatory is pleased to announce the release of a new educational video unveiling the regions in the five countries hosting Europe’s top leagues (England, Germany, France, France, Italy, and Spain) that develop the most elite football players.

The Île-de-France region is the largest source of talent, not only in absolute terms but also relative to the size of its population. In fact, half of all French players competing in top division leagues around the world were born in this region, even though the latter accounts for only one-fifth of the population.

Other metropolitan areas have a football ecosystem that allows them to develop even more elite players than their population size would suggest : London, Berlin, and Lombardy, in particular. In Spain, three regions stand out : Navarre, Catalonia, and the Basque Country.

>>> Watch the video

The 556th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the 100 U20 players worldwide who are not yet owned by clubs in the big-5 with the highest transfer value according to our statistical model. Although recently injured, FC Porto’s Polish prodigy Oskar Pietuszewski tops the list with an estimated value of approximately €56 million.

Jorthy Mokio (AFC Ajax) and Mateus Mané (Wolverhampton) round out the top three. The top 10 also includes players from Brazil (Álvaro Montoro), Saudi Arabia (Kader Meïté), Ukraine (Luca Meirelles), and Belgium (Mihajlo Cvetković). No fewer than 24 leagues are represented in the first 100 positions, with a maximum of 13 players from the MLS.

The CIES Football Observatory’s 100% statistical approach not only allows us to evaluate players as they stand today, but also to develop scenarios for estimating likely future developments. Our approach supports football stakeholders for a wide range of applications : transfer negotiations, contract renewals, loans, buy-out clauses, disputes, club sales or acquisitions, financial reporting, credit, insurance, and more.

>>> Top 100

>>> Top estimated transfer values in 70 leagues

The 555th CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks teams in 68 leagues around the world based on their willingness and ability to dictate the game, as measured by 27 key performance indicators (Impect data*) based on current season domestic league matches.

The highest game dictating scores were recorded for two of the UEFA Champions League favorites : Bayern Munich and Barcelona. The two-time defending champions, Paris Saint-Germain, are in fifth place, just behind their partner team, the Portuguese side SC Braga, and the outstanding Norwegians of FK Bodø/Glimt.

In the Premier League, Manchester City leads Tottenham and Arsenal. Currently ranked fourth in the table, Brentford is second to last in terms of game dictating index, which reflects a less dominant and more opportunistic style of play : one that can also pay off. In the Spanish Liga, José Mourinho’s Real Madrid is only fifth.

* These include nine defensive indicators reflecting the level of pressure exerted on opponents (pressure index), nine indicators related to build-up play reflecting the level of control over the game (control index), and nine offensive indicators reflecting the level of collective presence in the attacking zone (occupation index). Full method.

>>> All the data

>>> Performance tool

>>> New Prospect Sheet with Impect : Adri Mehmeti