Basque rivals Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao have both ranked in the top three clubs for Sustainable Squad Managament alongside English giants Manchester United.
The rankings system was devised by the CIES Football Observatory and is based on the criteria of age, length of stay and remaining contract duration.
Built to last! @CIES_Football presents newly designed Sustainable Squad Managament (SSM) rating: clubs in the big-5⃣ ranked according to age, stability & contracts 💡 Good news for @ManUtd fans 🤩 @AthleticClub & @RealSociedad stand also out 🙌 ➡️ https://t.co/uOgIRcIX02 pic.twitter.com/Xl1kl9pp3D
— CIES Football Obs (@CIES_Football) March 17, 2021
This means that both Basque clubs have a significant level of squad stability due to the age profile of their squad and the contracts their players have at the club.
The analysis of the two clubs finds that they “constitute perfect examples of sustainable squad management.”
This may not come as a great surprise to followers of Spanish football due to both club’s retaining a strong sense of tradition and loyalty to their respective youth systems.
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid rank eighth and nine respectively on the list – which is comprised of all squads across Europe’s top five leagues – while Real Madrid are in 14th place with Valencia one position lower, in 15th.
