Playing the kids
Top 25 ranked – Which European leagues gave the most game time to U21 players last season?
©TM/IMAGO
Not only is the World Cup a fantastic festival of football, but it’s also the biggest stage in the world for young players to showcase their talents to the wider world. Each tournament has at least one breakout star, who goes from a relatively unknown prospect to one of the hottest transfer targets in the summer transfer window. Even if the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo & Co. all demand the limelight, the sport simply can’t help but get excited about new players earning their stripes and showing their worth.
While the sport has many famous youth academies, the vast majority of the young players at this year’s World Cup have actually come through the ranks of their local clubs and their own domestic leagues. Not every future star can be a La Masia graduate. So which top leagues around Europe offered the most opportunities to young players last season? Using Transfermarkt’s database, we’ve ranked the 25 most valuable leagues in Europe by the percentage of minutes afforded to players aged 21 or younger. And some of the results may surprise you.
For example, the European top-flight that offered a higher percentage of the available game time to U21 players than any other last season was none other than the Serbian Super Liga, which had an impressive 25.6% of the total game time played by young stars. The U21 player who featured the most in the top-flight was Radnicki Nis central defender Dusan Pavlovic, whose market value rose from €400k to €1.5m. In second place is the Danish Superliga, where U21 players made up 23.2% of the total game time last season. A perfect example of young players flourishing in the division was midfielder Caleb Yirenkyi, who played more minutes than any other U21 player in the league for Nordsjaelland and subsequently saw his market value increase by a remarkable 900% over the course of the season.
Market Value
D. Pavlovic
Centre-Back
€1.50m
Market Value
C. Yirenkyi
Central Midfield
€10.00m
Taking up third place in the rankings is the Belgian Jupiler Pro League, which offered 22.1% of total game time to U21 players last season. The Belgian top-flight is well regarded as one of the best leagues in Europe for developing young players, with two of its five most valuable players being under the age of 21. However, it may have its work cut out to keep that reputation, given that the Swedish Allsvenskan finished close behind in fourth place after offering 21.9% of its game time to young stars. Or the Dutch Eredivisie, which came in fifth place after offering an impressive 20.4% of its total game time to young players last season.
With regards to Europe’s major leagues, there is one that stands out above all others. The French Ligue 1 came sixth among all European top flights after offering 19.6% of game time to U21 players. The German Bundesliga did relatively well with 14.6% offered to young players, but it’s worth noting that the French top-flight provided more than twice what the Premier League (9.6%) offered U21 players last season, which only just snuck into the top rankings in 20th place. However, the English top-flight looked impressive compared to Serie A and LaLiga, which finished 21st and 22nd on 9.2% and 7.7% respectively. The top European leagues that offered the fewest opportunities to young players were the Greek Super League 1 (5.3%) and the Turkish Süper Lig (5.7%).
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