CIES: fewer club-trained players, more transferred in and expat players in European clubs

Club-trained footballers now account for only 18.5% of the player workforce (-4.7% since 2009), the lowest ever figure, while the percentage of expatriates reached a new high: 39.7% (+5% since 2009.). A new high was also observed for the percentage of new signing (players transferred in) during the calendar year: 44.8% (+8.1% since 2009), according to the Football Observatory of the Centre International d'Étude du Sport (CIES) in its monthly report published on 31/10/2017.

"The sample is made up of 466 teams participating in 31 top division leagues of UEFA member associations. The study covers a period of nine years between 2009 and 2017," said the CIES.

"The regularity of the trends observed enables us to confirm that a real change is taking place in top-level European football. The central question is to know just how far this process can go without jeopardising the interest of competitions, the credibility of professional football and its sustainable development in the majority of countries," added the CIES.

CIES: 18.5% of club-trained players in European teams in 2017 (compared…