Getting a player like L ionel M essi in the squad would seem like a dream come true for a professional football manager, but is it always best to have top‐quality players? We study the determinants of top goal‐scorers’ productivity in the UEFA C hampions L eague. We find evidence of a concave relationship between age and productivity and uncover an inverted‐U relationship between performance and minutes played. Finally, we find a positive effect on height, being left footed and being a striker on the probability of scoring a goal. The results have important implications for managers both in looking to sign on new players and to maximise their potential during a competitive match.
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Fry et al. (2014) studied this question.
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