CIES: 66.4% of Premier League players in 2015-16 are imported are from foreign countries

The proportion of foreign players to homegrown players to have played at least one match in the Premier League in 2015-16 is 66.4%, according to the monthly report for February 2016 of the CIES Football Observatory, published on 09/02/2016. This percentage shows that the Premier League is the championship which uses the largest proportion of foreign players in 2015-16 (or 2015 for the championships scheduled around the calendar year) out of the 37 championships included in the CIES study.

33.9% of players who have appeared in the 2015-16 Ligue 1 season are foreign, ranking the French championship in 11^th place among the 12 European leagues in the study, as well as being the lowest total among the Top 5 European leagues. The average foreign contingent of these five major European championships is 46.7% in 2015-16.

"Up until 1985, the percentage of imported players in squads of teams in the five major European leagues never exceeded 10%. From that date onwards, the proportion of players has grown continuously. The biggest increase was observed between 1995/96, the last season before…