Coventry City have been ranked as the eighth best ‘future proofed’ squad in the world, beating the likes of Arsenal, Barcelona, Inter Milan and Manchester City to name just a few.
That’s according to a recent CIES Football Observatory report which revealed Chelsea are the best performing team in world football when measuring how many minutes (almost 92%) are being played by players under contracts beyond 2026.
In other words - the clubs where squad planning is “most likely to bring stability” in the coming years or to “generate substantial capital gains” from transfers.
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The study ranked the teams from 37 leagues around the world according to the percentage of ‘minutes secured’, i.e. the share of the current season’s domestic league minutes played by footballers still under contract with a duration beyond the year 2026. Monaco (91.3% of minutes secured) and AZ Alkmaar (89.2%) complete the podium of teams while Spain’s Real Sociedad (88.4%) and France’s Paris St-Germain also are in the top five positions.
The latter team has the highest value among UEFA’s Champions League quarter-finalists, ahead of another club well prepared for the future, Arsenal (85.8%). AZ Alkmaar aside, two other teams outside the five major European leagues feature in the top ten – Russia’s Zenit St. Petersburg (86.4%)and England Championship’s Coventry City (86.2%).
In simple terms, it means that 86% of the Sky Blues game minutes this season have been played by players under contract beyond the next 18 months.
The next highest is the Championship are Sunderland (70.5%) in 47th place, Hull (68.5%) 59th and the two sides currently occupying the automatic promotion places, Leeds (64.7%) are ranked 79th and Sheff U (62.6%) 90th.
As it stands, Frank Lampard only has two senior players whose contracts are due to expire this summer, Jamie Allen and Jamie Paterson, while development players Cian Tyler, Jack Burroughs and Ryan Howley are also reaching the end of their deals.
The club have just three whose contracts are up in the summer of 2026 – Ben Sheaf, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto and goalkeeper Brad Collins – although City have an option on Sheaf to extend his deal for another year until 2027, which they are almost certain to trigger.
Nine regulars in the current squad have contracts running until 2027 – Milan van Ewijk, Haji Wright, Ellis Simms, Liam Kitching, Joel Latibeaudiere, Bobby Thomas, Jay Dasilva, Jake Bidwell and Ben Wilson, while a further ten are contracted until June 2028 – Josh Eccles, Matt Grimes, Jack Rudoni, Ephron Mason-Clark, Brandon Thomas-Asante, Oliver Dovin, Luis Binks, Victor Torp, Norman Bassette and Raphael Borges Rodrigues.
Championship teams with the best and worst 'future proofed' squads
Championship teams with the best and worst 'future proofed' squads
What do you make of City having so many players tied up on long-term contracts? Click HERE to have your say.
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