Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk is rated among the top 20 footballers for minutes played in world football in 2024, while also amassing the most of any Premier League player.
A survey by the CIES Football Observatory shows that the 33-year-old Dutchman has played 5,523 minutes in 64 games for both club and country so far this calendar year, which is the most of any Premier League star.
The report, which tracks players from the top 66 leagues around the world, shows those who played the highest number of minutes from January 1 to December 15 this year.
Only senior appearances at club level were considered by CIES, while international U23 and U21 matches were included in the study.
Behind Van Dijk in first place – and fourth globally – was Arsenal's William Saliba, who scored 5,264 minutes in 59 games for the Gunners in 2024.
He was closely followed by Manchester United's Portuguese duo Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot, who logged 5,151 and 5,025 minutes respectively over the past 12 months.
Meanwhile, Chelsea are certainly getting their money's worth from British record £115m signing Moises Caicedo as he completed the top five this calendar year with 4,994 minutes to his name.
Luis Diaz was, perhaps surprisingly, the sixth most used Premier League player in 2024 with 4,929 minutes for Liverpool and Colombia, finishing second behind Van Dijk among Anfield's stars.
Arsenal duo Declan Rice and Kai Havertz were next with 4,914 and 4,805 minutes respectively, after both also played key roles for England and Germany in last summer's European Championships.
Manchester City, who have had a dismal form of late under Pep Guardiola, winning just once in 11 games, claimed the next three players on the most used list, with Erling Haaland (4,786), Josko Gvardiol (4,770) and Bernardo. Silva (4,663) records the minutes.
Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias and Ilkay Gundogan, 34, also found their way into the Premier League's top 20 for several minutes, perhaps underscoring the point that Guardiola's current City team may simply be out of steam.
In terms of minutes recorded worldwide, the most used player in 2024 was Barcelona defender Jules Kounde, who was selected in 69 games and logged a whopping 5,872 minutes for both the Catalans and the French national team.
The versatile 26-year-old defender amassed over 250 more minutes than second-placed Fluminense's Brazilian star Jhon Arias, who recorded 5,599 in 67 games.
Real Madrid's Federico Valverde was the only other footballer to play more than Van Dijk in the period indicated, with 5,573 minutes recorded over 66 matches.
Former Manchester City defender Nicolas Otamendi, 36, rounded out the top five with an impressive 5,549 minutes across 65 games, continuing to flourish with Portuguese giants Benfica late in his career.
Granit Xhaka of Bayer Leverkusen, David Hancko of Feyenoord, Felix Torres of Corinthians, Joe Rodon of Leeds United and Saliba of Arsenal were also named in the top 10 by CIES.
The research found that more than 73 percent of minutes were played domestically, with the remaining playing time split almost evenly between international club competitions such as the Champions League and international tournaments such as the European Championships and the Olympic Games.
In total, six of the twenty players are 30 years old or older, while only three players under the age of 25 (Saliba, 23; Rocha, 23; and David, 24) made the list.
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