STATS: Manchester United have the world’s best young centre-back, according to this study

For those of you who think that stats are the best way to judge the quality of a player, some results in this study may surprise you...

The findings of the CIES Football Observatory study into players under the age of 23 were released today and the best 15 players in each outfield position across Europe's top five leagues were revealed. The research took the following factors into account when considering the players:

• Shooting
• Chance creation
• Take-on
• Distribution
• Recovery
• Rigour

And the results, which are based on the caveat that each player must have played at least 50% of domestic league minutes, look like this: Manchester United's Phil Jones leads the way, which may surprise a few considering his reputation for losing the ball in midfield. Other notable names on the list are Real Madrid's Raphael Varane and PSG's Marquinhos. In terms of defensive midfielders, there is no surprise to see Paul Pogba right up there among the best, but he is easily beaten out by PSG's Marco Verratti who has had a tremendous season in Ligue 1. Layvin Kurzawa is a name that few may recognise but, based on the above criteria, he has been the best full-back in Europe this season. Calum Chambers' inclusion may shock a couple considering his indifferent form all season but David Alaba's place is understandable given his proficiency over a dead ball. The attacking midfield position is filled with superstars such as Isco, Mario Götze, Koke and Coutinho impressing all season. The Premier League is well represented in the top 15 young forwards with Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Sadio Mane, Erik Lamela and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all featuring. While we wouldn't pay too much credence to the statistics, they certainly make for interesting reading.