Integration of Young Soccer Players in Adult Teams: A Comparison between Four Top Leagues in Europe

Although many young soccer players are determined to become professional adult players, only few actually succeed and reach such status. Such success is dependent on various factors but most importantly on the young players` soccer specific skills, as well as their personality and character. The main aim of the present study was to present the key points and criteria that characterize the transition of young soccer players from youth to adult teams in the four major soccer leagues in Europe – England, Spain, Italy and Germany. Data were collected from the football website www.transfermarket.com for young players in the four European major leagues of the 2018-2019 soccer season. Overall, 293 young players fulfilled the necessary conditions to qualify for participation as young integrated players. The findings indicated that the highest integration rate for young players in adult teams of the top four leagues in Europe was in the Serie A (19.3% of all players in the league) and in the Bundesliga (16.4%), while most of these players were playing in the midfield (39%). It was also found that most of the players joined teams from the top of the leagues (43%), while 28% and 29% of the players joined teams from the middle and the bottom of the table, respectively. In addition, 51% of the young players came from local youth teams, whereas 49% came from foreign countries, mainly European (60%) and South American (19%) countries. 35% of the players made the transition to adult teams at the age of 19, while 25%, 22% and 18% made the transition at the age of 18, 20 and 17 or lower, respectively. Given that the present findings ore only observational, conclusions as to the requirements for a successful transition to adult teams are not certain and should be made with great caution at present.