Virgil Van Dijk, William Saliba among most played in 2024

The CIES Football Observatory has published data on the most used players over the course of the calendar year, with Barcelona’s Jules Koundé atop the list and Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk and Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde among the top five.

France defender Koundé played a total of 5,872 minutes for club and country across the year, with Fluminense’s Colombia international Jhon Arias in second place with 5,599. Valverde played 5,573, while Van Dijk racked up 5,523 minutes in all competitions.

Arsenal’s William Saliba, Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Granit Xhaka and Benfica’s Nicolás Otamendi also featured in the top 10.

CIES noted in their release that for the top 100 players in terms of minutes played, domestic club football accounted for 73.2%, with 15.1% from intercontinental club competitions and 13.4% from national team action.

Player usage and rest has become a topic of considerable concern in recent weeks and months, particularly after Manchester City’s Ballon d’Or-winning midfielder Rodri said players could go on strike if the football calendar continues to become more congested.

Koundé agreed with Rodri’s sentiments, telling a news conference last September: “Every year, we have more matches and less time to recover. It’s not for want of saying it. We’ve been saying it for three or four years but no one listens to us.

“The coaches have also said it and they are not listened to either. There will come a time when we will have to strike, because it is the only way for us to make our voice heard by those who decide.”

In October, the global players’ union FIFPro filed an antitrust complaint against FIFA along with European football chiefs in which they that argue that global football’s governing body is abusing its right as both tournament organiser and regulator.