With a revamped Club World Cup being added to the calendar, an exhausting 2024–25 season has only just reached its conclusion, having started 11 months ago.
Respite is rare for footballers at the highest level, with those who enjoyed deep runs in the United States this summer soon tucking into their preseason programmes in preparation for another slog in 2025–26.
Player burnout is a growing concern, and there have been few signs of those who pull the strings manifesting sympathy. More, more and more seems to ever be the only answer, with athletes treated like pawns who most perform relentlessly to satiate financial desires.
Ballon d’Or holder Rodri said last September, just before he tore his ACL, that some are "close" to going on strike, while Harry Kane believes players aren’t being listened to regarding the congested schedule. We’re seemingly at breaking point, with the minutes the world’s most used players tallied up in 2024–25 surely not sustainable.
Marca has conjured up a list of the players with the most minutes played last season. Here are the top ten.
Players Who Played Most Minutes in 2024–25
No player came close to matching Federico Valverde’s staggering tally of 6,116 minutes played across 72 appearances. While Real Madrid teammate Luka Modrić, remarkably, recorded an appearance more for club and country despite turning 39 last September, the Croatian superstar was often used off the bench.
Valverde played 65 times for Madrid and earned seven caps for his country, missing only three games and appearing off the bench in four. The midfielder-by-trade has long been revered for his energy and engine, and Xabi Alonso is set to rely on him just as much as predecessor Carlo Ancelotti did.
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes ranked second for minutes played, although he notched more than 300 fewer than Valverde at 5,796. The Portuguese international was superb for a woeful United team that reached the Europa League final but finished 15th in the Premier League.
Fernandes is one of four players who rank inside the top ten who also didn’t perform at the Club World Cup. Goalkeepers Mike Maignan and David Raya also made the cut, as did Liverpool’s superstar defender Virgil van Dijk. The Dutch centre-back ranked tenth with 5,174 minutes played, having started all but one of Liverpool’s 38 Premier League games.
Atlético Madrid goalkeeper added three appearances to his season tally in the U.S. to match Van Dijk’s 57, but he finished the campaign having played 16 minutes more. The pair were usurped by full-back duo Achraf Hakimi and Marc Cucurella, who both started in Sunday’s Club World Cup final. The former played a key role in Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League success but only played 25 times in Ligue 1.
Joshua Kimmich’s Bayern Munich were knocked out by PSG in the quarterfinals of this summer’s tournament, but the German international was a mainstay in Vincent Kompany’s midfield throughout the season. Kimmich played the fourth-most minutes with 5,529, 70 more than Manchester City’s Joško Gvardiol.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Players With the Most Minutes Across the 2024–25 Season.
