Top 5 leagues: over 50% of the playing time for foreign players in 51 of 98 clubs in 2016-17 (CIES)

The majority of the playing time has been realised by foreign players in 51 of the 98 clubs of the European Top 5 leagues since the beginning of the 2016-17 season, according to the CIES Observatory Football, in its 160^th weekly newsletter, published on 10/10/2016, and which lists the percentage of minutes played in 2016-17 by national players in every club of the Top 5 leagues.

Foreign players comprise over half of the playing time at 16 of the 20 Premier League clubs since the beginning of the 2016-17 season. AFC Bournemouth (81%), Burnley FC (62%), Crystal Palace FC (53%), and Everton (52%) are the four Premier League clubs where national players (players who grew up in the country of their professional club, and in which they are local nationals) have played more than 50% of the possible minutes. Foreign players account for more than 66% of the playing time in 11 Premier League clubs.

In the Serie A TM (12 clubs) and the Bundesliga (11 clubs), the majority of minutes played are also played by foreigners in the majority of clubs. However, in 11 LaLiga Santander of 20, Spanish…