Newcastle surprisingly have one of the most sustainable squads in all of Europe's top five leagues, joining powerhouses Manchester City and Liverpool in the rankings, according to a new study.
The CIES Football Observatory released its findings on the most sustainable squads this month, ranking sides on three main areas – age structure, group stability and contractual policy – in order to determine the optimum set up on the continent.
The Sustainable Squad Management (SSM) index highlights how combining players’ age, average stay in the first team squad and contract duration, while the employment rate of each club can be used to determine which squads are built to last for the future.
Newcastle have one of the most sustainable squads in Europe, according to a new study
Man City sit top of CIES Football Observatory's Sustainable Squad Management index
The report states how overactivity in the transfer market can reveal a lack of strategic planning for clubs and would be disruptive for managing a team and optimising its performance.
It is no surprise that Man City top the sustainability table, with Pep Guardiola fielding a younger than average squad (27 years and 22 days) compared to the other 97 teams in Europe's five big leagues (27 years and 47 days), while players chosen to play by the Catalan boss have also been in the first team squad for much longer (three years and 116 days) when compared to the rest (two years and 109 days).
Real Sociedad and Liverpool complete the top three, while RB Leipzig, Manchester United and Tottenham feature in the top 10.
Meanwhile, when compared to the likes of City and Liverpool, European giants Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona don't have teams to last with both failing to crack the top 30.
However, it is Newcastle's shock inclusion in the top 10 that sticks out the most, with the Magpies ranking seventh overall.
Real Sociedad and Liverpool (pictured) complete the top three of most sustainable squads
Newcastle, which was sold by Mike Ashley and taken over by Amanda Staveley and a Saudi-led consortium last month, have a slightly older squad that City's (27 years and 285 days) while players tend to stay in the first team for a similar time to the Etihad club.
Newcastle players' average contract duration is also slightly less (two years and 328 days) when compared to leaders City (three years and 109 days).
The Magpies were known for not being at all active in the transfer market during Ashley's later years as owner but after attracting new ownership and becoming the richest club in the world, their
The CIES details in its report the importance of each category. The first focus is on age structure, where it measures how many minutes are afforded to players who could be presumed to be past their prime.
Meanwhile, European giants PSG (pictured) and Barcelona don't have teams to last
They take a cut-off age for each position – 33 for a goalkeeper, 32 for a defender, 31 for a midfielder and 30 for a striker – before measuring what percentage of minutes players above those ages have played for teams this season.
While LaLiga outfit Huesca sit top, Bayern Munich are not
