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.