Football

The football clubs with the most foreign-bought players

Despite a push for more home-grown talent to be brought into the first teams of Premier League teams in recent years, the likes of City, Chelsea and Arsenal are still sourcing the majority of their squads from foreign lands. According to new research by the CIES Football Observatory, of all players fielded by Manchester City in domestic league games this season, 77 percent were bought from abroad - the highest share of all clubs in the 'Big Five' leagues in Europe. Close behind are Chelsea with 76 percent.

Worth noting, is that although someone may have been bought from a foreign club, the player himself is not necessarily of a different nationality to the destination club. Likewise, the recent transfer of Alexis Sanchez from Arsenal to Manchester United would not count under this definition, despite the player being from Chile.

Description

This chart shows the football clubs which buy the most players from foreign teams.

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Premium statistics
Purchases of players from foreign football clubs to the French Ligue 1 from 2015 to 2018 (in million euros)
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Total transfer fee outgoings of soccer clubs within the English Premier League from 2012 to 2022 (in million euros)
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Transfer fee investments of top tier soccer clubs in Europe from 2012 to 2021 (in million euros)
Club teams with the most players at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia
Domestic leagues with the most players at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia
Premium statistics
Total transfer fee outgoings of soccer clubs within Ligue 1 from 2012 to 2022 (in million euros)

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