Why Ligue 1 clubs give teenagers more chances than other top leagues

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Historical data analysed 

©TM/IMAGO

During the international break, Transfermarkt has examined the opportunities being provided to young prospects across the top five leagues, so far this season. We recently investigated which clubs have handed the most minutes to teenagers in their respective leagues with Barcelona comfortably sitting first.

Hansi Flick’s men have soared to the LaLiga summit with their famed La Masia academy pivotal to their success. The top ten list, however, was dominated by Ligue 1 clubs with seven featuring in the top ten, including Reims in second and PSG in third. Developing young players is a clear priority for many French clubs with their business model dependent on selling them for substantial profits. The minutes afforded to teenagers in Ligue 1 are significantly higher than other top five leagues and that’s been a clear pattern across recent seasons. 

Which top five league hands the most minutes to teenagers? 

Ligue 1 clubs have handed 13,465 minutes to teenagers so far this season, which is more than double any of the other top five leagues. When it comes to different teenagers used, Ligue 1 have blooded more than double the amount of starlets than any of the other four leagues with 64 different players handed gametime. As the graphic below illustrates, LaLiga ranks second (6,613) with Barcelona (2,621) accounting for over 39.6% of the total figure.

The English Premier League, Bundesliga and Serie A are all under 5,000 minutes combined with the Italian top-flight using the second highest number of teenagers despite sitting bottom for combined minutes. When analysing data from the previous five seasons – 2019/20 to 2023/24 – Ligue 1’s status as the best top five league for handing opportunities to youngsters becomes abundantly clear. The French top-flight occupies the top five positions for most minutes handed to teenagers across that time period with the total of 40,158 in 2021/22 a record.

The lowest total from Ligue 1 of 23,878 minutes from the 2019/20 season is still higher than the record from another top five league of 23,152 minutes from Bundesliga clubs in 2021/22. Furthermore, as illustrated in the graphic below, the total minutes afforded to teenagers in Ligue 1 clubs this season, after just 11 games, already eclipses nine full season totals from other top five leagues from the previous five seasons. The Premier League’s total of 8,910 minutes from the 2021/22 season is the lowest figure recorded and the only top five league season to drop below the 10,000 minute landmark. 

Why do Ligue 1 clubs hand more minutes to teenagers than other top five leagues?

While the data paints a clear picture the pertinent question is why are Ligue 1 clubs prioritising the development of younger players? Transfermarkt’s French football expert Joachim Durand explains: “I think this is due to the financial situation of the Ligue 1 clubs. Many are in deficit and need to sell their best players to replenish their coffers. And these days, it’s the young players who bring in the most money. But it’s also due to the talent pool and past successes that encourage clubs in this direction. France probably has one of the best breeding grounds in the world, with crack players emerging every year. Kylian Mbappé yesterday, Bradley Barcola today and no doubt Ayyoub Bouaddi in the future.

Durand continued: “Some clubs are known for focusing on youth players like Lille, Monaco and Lyon. They are renowned for developing rising stars like Bouaddi, Bafodé Diakité, Rayan Cherki, Maghnes Akliouche, Eliesse Ben Seghir. But many don’t like Marseille, Nantes and RC Lens. Marseille are particularly criticised because they don’t typically give a chance to the players from their academy – Boubacar Kamara is the last example of success.” Ligue 1 is on course to eclipse its recent record for minutes to teenagers this season and it will be fascinating to discover which top European clubs cherry pick the next proteges from the convoyeur belt of talent from France.