Real Madrid are the most stable team in the big-five leagues, according to a study by the Football Observatory, with Arsenal joining them in the top 20.

Arsenal are finally finding some stability in their performances at the moment, with nine wins in a row. If you’re looking bet on the Gunners to keep that run going, this coral new customer offer is a good place to start. However, it’s not just the formbook where the club are showing some consistency.

The CIES Football Observatory recently did a study to evaluate which clubs have the most stability, in terms of the players they’re putting out each year.

First, they recorded which players took part in every match in Europe’s top five leagues from 1st July to 1st October 2018. Then they established how long each of those players has been at their current club, and calculated the ‘average stay’ for every team.

Let’s have a look at the top 20 teams, and the average number of years the players they’ve fielded have been with the club:

  1. Real Madrid – 5.84
  2. Barcelona – 5.36
  3. Bayern Munich – 5.26
  4. Atletico Madrid – 4.17
  5. Tottenham Hotspur – 3.89
  6. Athletic Club – 3.80
  7. Manchester United – 3.72
  8. Borussia Mönchengladbach – 3.48
  9. Napoli – 3.43
  10. Bournemouth – 3.37
  11. Manchester City – 2.99
  12. PSG – 2.94
  13. Roma – 2.94
  14. Villarreal CF – 2.90
  15. Hertha Berlin – 2.85
  16. St. Etienne – 2.79
  17. Celta Vigo – 2.76
  18. Arsenal – 2.74
  19. Freiburg – 2.71
  20. Dortmund – 2.68

Arsenal don’t exactly match up to the top teams on the list, but being in the top 20% of big five leagues is still a good sign. Squads of players that stick together tend to find more success in the end.

It’s no surprise to see Tottenham at the top of the list when it comes to English teams though, despite their limited on-field success. They didn’t sign a single player over the summer, which stops their average being brought down by new additions.

In the same vein, it’s more of a shock to see Manchester City almost making the top 10, considering they’re still spending crazy amounts to bring people in every window. When you think about it though, City do also have a core of long-term servants to the club, like David Silva (8 years), Sergio Aguero (7 years) and Vincent Kompany (10 years), among others.

The trio at the very top of the list are there for good reason too. Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich have the money and the success to keep their best players around.

It helps that they can draw on stars from their own countries very heavily, given how much talent there is in Germany and Spain. Those players then take a lot of convincing to leave one of the best teams in their home country.

Let’s hope Unai Emery can keep the core elements of his Arsenal squad around for the long-term too, and the team benefit on the pitch.