Best goalkeepers outside of Europe – data analysis

When it comes to searching for new players, top teams don’t often look outside of Europe. This is because the standard of football outside Europe is much lower than the leagues inside it. However, as has been evident in recent transfers from elite clubs, some teams do look outside of Europe to increase the potential of their squad. Notable examples range from Barcelona signing Neymar from Santos in Brazil, Manchester City taking Aaron Mooy from the A-league in Australia, and Manchester United recently signing Facundo Pellistri from Argentina.

This data analysis will look at good options from outside of Europe in the goalkeeping position. Although it would take time for goalkeepers to get used to an improved standard of football, there are a lot of players with big potential outside of the top leagues. We will look at different aspects of goalkeeping, including shot-stopping, sweeping, and passing to find the best all-round players. We have included goalkeepers who have played over 10 matches and who are 27 or under. This gives us goalkeepers who play regularly, but who are not yet hitting their peak.

Stopping goals

A goalkeepers main job is to prevent the opposition from scoring goals. Therefore, this section is technically the most important. Whereas sweeping and passing are more bonus attributes of the modern-day keeper. We will look at how each goalkeeper performs and how their team’s defensive ability has an effect on their stats.

The best performing goalkeeper on this graph has already been signed by a team within the European leagues. Paços de Ferreira have recently signed former Vasco de Gama keeper Jordi. The Brazilian had a great 2019/20 season, saving 78.95% of the 6.02 shots per 90 he faced.

Lucas Chaves, who plays for Argentinos Jrs has the second-highest save percentage with 78.21%. However, the Argentinian plays for a much better team, meaning he only faces 3.16 shots per 90.

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