European Top 5: Barça ahead of PSG & Real Madrid in number of active players trained (CIES)

FC Barcelona (LALIGA EA Sports) is the club that has trained the most active players at the start of the 2024-25 season in the European Top 5 leagues (Germany, England, Spain, France and Italy), with 46 players having passed through its training centre, according to the CIES Football Observatory's "Weekly Post" published on 30/10/2024.

The Madrid club is ahead of Paris Saint-Germain (Ligue 1 McDonald's, 35 players trained) and Real Madrid CF (LALIGA EA Sports, 34 players). In addition to Paris Saint-Germain, three other French clubs feature in the Top 20: Stade Rennais FC (5^th) and Olympique Lyonnais (6^th), each with 25 players trained, and Le Havre AC (19^th, 20 players).

Chelsea FC (9^th) is the Premier League that has trained the most players (23 players), while FC Bayern Munich (12^th) is the leading Bundesliga club with 22 players trained in its academy. Atalanta BC, also with 22 players, is the highest-ranked Serie A Enilive club (13^th). Only one club outside the European Top 5 features in the Top 20: AFC Ajax (Eredivisie), with 24 players trained at its academy (8^th).

If we extend…