Domestic bias - Which top 5 league clubs gave most minutes to domestic players in 2023/24?

It's often argued that having a core spine of players from your club's nation can help spur a team onto success. Look back to the British contingent of the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney in Sir Alex Ferguson's serial winning Manchester United team. Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Xavi, and Andrés Iniesta in Pep Guardiola's iconic Barcelona team. Even the Italian core of Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Nesta, Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso in the great AC Milan team of the early 2000's. Having a core of solid domestic (often homegrown) players can act as a bridge between the team and the fans, and unite a club towards success.

However, now with the game more global than ever, clubs in the top five leagues attract the best stars from all around the world, and often boast a real mixture of nationalities within their squads. But which team's still obtain a touch of that domestic bias? Here at Transfermarkt, we have calculated which clubs handed the most minutes to domestic players in the top five leagues last season (only counting league games). It should be taken into account that the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 club's played four less games than Premier League, La Liga and Serie A teams.

Which clubs handed out the most minutes to domestic players last season?

Leading the way was La Liga side Athletic Club. The club's unique policy of only playing Basque players means that only players from the Basque region (covering part of northern Spain and a small part of Southern France) are allowed to represent the team. This means almost all of their players are Spanish, with Iñaki Williams, who chose to represent Ghana at international level, a rare exception. Last season the Bilbao based side played 29 Spanish players, and handed out 40,234 minutes to those domestic stars, putting them in first place. Second goes to another La Liga side in Osasuna who gave 27 Spanish players a total of 36,963 minutes last season, as they finished 11th in the Spanish top-flight.

In third was Bundesliga side Heidenheim who gave 23 Germans a total of 34,882 minutes from just a 34 game season. La Liga's dominance then continues. In fourth were Deportivo Alavés, who played 26 Spanish players and gave them 32,550 minutes last term. Fifth goes to Cádiz with 30,483 minutes handed out to 25 Spanish players. Real Sociedad take sixth, handing out 30,318 minutes to 29 Spanish stars, whilst Las Palmas are seventh with 30,149 minutes given to 23 Spaniards last term. In eighth spot is Ligue 1 side Brest, with 28,624 minutes given to French players. Serie A team Monza take ninth, handing out 27,806 minutes to 26 Italians, whilst La Liga's Granada complete the top, after giving out 27,360 minutes to 28 Spanish players.

The first Premier League team on the list are Everton, who rank first from the English top-flight, but 13th from the top five leagues. Sean Dyche's team handed out 25,515 minutes to 18 English players last season. When we just isolate the Premier League, Newcastle come in second place, giving out 22,368 minutes. Third and fourth goes to the relegated pair of Luton and Sheffield United respectively, and completing the Premier League top five were Crystal Palace.