Almost that 22,600 injuries registered in the last five years cost 3,450 million euros in Europe’s top five football leagues, reveals the fifth edition of the European Men’s Football Injury Index, produced by global insurance intermediary group Howden.
This edition examines the injury trends over the last five years in Europe’s top five men’s leagues in the 2024-25 season, with a separate chapter dedicated to this topic Impact of the newly expanded Club World Cup from FIFA 2025.
The report reflects that despite the increase in the number of injuries in the 2024-25 season in the five main European men’s leagues, costs for the main clubs fell more than proportionately compared to the 2023-24 season (-160.48 million euros).
Outside the Premier League there are only three clubs, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, They have recorded injury costs of more than €40m in a single season over the last five years.
Although the clubs of the Bundesliga Data shows their costs are significantly lower as they consistently recorded the highest injury rates each season an average of 115.95 million euros per season.
In the last five years, Real Madrid incurred a total of €168.76 million in injury costs, compared to €122.99 million for rivals FC Barcelona. Paris Saint-Germain is the only French men’s team to record an above-average number of injuries overall in each of the last five seasons almost 300 injuries during this period.
Amid growing concerns about the expected playing time of young footballers, the report analyzed injury cases by age group, highlighting the vulnerability of those under 21 years of age to injury.
The five most injury-prone scenarios involved players playing at least 300 minutes of football under 21 years old.
Premier League striker Minors under 21 suffered from this one injury every 120 minutes of football nationally competitive. In the 2024/25 season, players under the age of 21 suffered the most serious injuries in Ligue 1. They were offside an average of 47 days per injurywhich corresponds to an increase of eight days compared to the previous season.
And another fact: Chelsea saw a 44% increase in injuries after taking part in the expanded Club World Cup, which he won this year.
“The highlights of this year’s report increasing physical demands that elite players are exposed to. In this year’s report we see an evolution in the number of injuries and associated costs, reflecting current debates about improving player protection in the game. We hope the report will serve as a valuable resource to help players, clubs and regulators navigate these debates and make informed decisions about the future of the game,” said Howden sporting director James Burrows.
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