The CIES Football Observatory has released data on the most frequently used players throughout the calendar year, with Barcelona’s Jules Koundé leading the list. Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk and Real Madrid’s Federico Valverde are also among the top five.
Koundé, a France defender, played a total of 5,872 minutes for both his club and country. Fluminense’s Jhon Arias, a Colombian international, ranked second with 5,599 minutes. Valverde accumulated 5,573 minutes, while Van Dijk played 5,523 minutes across all competitions.
Also featured in the top 10 are Arsenal’s William Saliba, Bayer Leverkusen’s Granit Xhaka, and Benfica’s Nicolás Otamendi.
CIES highlighted that domestic club football accounted for 73.2% of the top 100 players’ total minutes, with 15.1% from intercontinental club competitions and 13.4% from national team fixtures.
The issue of player workload and recovery time has garnered increasing attention, especially after Manchester City’s Ballon d’Or-winning midfielder Rodri suggested that players might strike if the football calendar becomes any more congested.
Koundé echoed Rodri’s concerns, stating at a press conference last September: “Every year, we have more matches and less time to recover. We’ve been raising this issue for three or four years, but no one listens to us.” He added that coaches have also voiced their concerns but were ignored. “At some point, we will have to strike to make our voices heard by those who make the decisions.”
In October, the global players’ union FIFPro, along with European football leaders, filed an antitrust complaint against FIFA. They argue that FIFA is misusing its authority as both the organizer and regulator of global football.
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