Premier League teams ‘suffer the highest number of injuries in Europe’

The Premier League had the highest number of injuries out of Europe’s top five leagues last season, according to a recent study.

Injuries in England’s top division were up to 1,231 in 2021-22 compared to 938 the season before. 

In research carried out by international insurance brokers Howden, Chelsea topped England’s injury count with 97, Manchester United were second with 81 and Liverpool – who progressed to the end of every competition they entered last season – had 80.

The league was also hit the hardest financially due to the injuries, losing £184.57million, with LaLiga in Spain a distant second on £109.34million. 

Injury costs for clubs in the continent’s ‘Big Five’ leagues in the 2021-22 campaign were £513.23m, a leap of 29 per cent compared to the season before.

Injuries themselves were up by 20 per cent on the season before, with 4,810 recorded in all.

United recorded the highest injury cost of £26.72million, an average cost per injury of £330,000 and accounting for 14.5 per cent of the total injury cost for the Premier League as a whole.

The division dealt with 1,231 issues in 2021-22 compared to 938in the 2020-21 season

French champions Paris St Germain – whose star names include Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Lionel Messi, had the highest injury cost of any club in Europe – £34.22million.

Europe’s men’s club competitions are set to expand from 2024-25 onwards, meaning an extra 64 matches in the Champions League in total.

James Burrows, the head of sport at Howden, says Europe’s superpower clubs cannot simply buy their way out of the problem by increasing squad size unless regulations change.

The Premier League also suffered the most financial damage last year due to injuries

French champions PSG have suffered the highest injury cost of any club in Europe

‘Dealing with the risk will involve more rotation of playing squad members and potentially seeking adjustments to the number and frequency of games that players need to play in,’ he said.

‘We may also see an increased focus on the use of younger players given that they are typically more resilient to injury and tend to recover more quickly.’

This is a trend that is perhaps already emerging, with Howden observing a sharp increase in the number of injuries being sustained by the under-21 age group, from 30 occurrences in the 2018-19 season to 326 in 2021-22.

Premier League clubs have called for fewer fixtures as injury numbers continue to rise rapidly

Chelsea suffered the highest number of injuries in England last season, with 97 problems

Premier League clubs are understood to be unanimous in wanting their league’s board to formally request that the Football Association scraps FA Cup third and fourth-round replays from the same season, while the PA news agency also understands the league’s ‘Big Six’ clubs are in favour of allowing clubs competing in Europe to drop out of the Carabao Cup or enter an under-21 side.

At the global level, world players’ union FIFPRO wants the new calendars to enshrine four or five-week off-season breaks away from the club and national team environment for all players and a similar mid-season break of one to two weeks.

It also believes there should be a cap on the number of back-to-back matches – appearances of 45 minutes or more less than five days apart – a player can play in. FIFPRO says a higher number of appearances in this ‘critical zone’ increase the risk of injury and can also impact on a player’s career longevity.