Team Focus: Europe's Youngest Squads

We at WhoScored have decided to investigate the clubs in Europe's top 5 leagues who are most willing to rely on their younger stars by accumulating the average age of each squad.

Only players to have played a part in at least 5 league games were considered to filter out the odd sub appearance from a club’s youth prospects, with the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 clearly boasting the youngest squads around.

To fit the stereotype the youngest Serie A side, Udinese, ranks 37th out of a possible 98 teams with an average age of 25.95. Meanwhile, Italy's league leaders AC Milan have an average age of 29.57, which is only younger than La Liga's Levante - the only team in the top 5 league's whose squad’s average age is over 30. The age of the Spaniards may well be taking its toll after an unbelievable start to the season has dwindled into a winless streak of 8 matches right now.

In the Premier League Arsene Wenger's injury woes have seen a number of youngsters getting more playing time than they could have hoped, so the average age of the Arsenal squad is the youngest in England at 25. Newly-promoted QPR are the oldest in England, with 14 of their regular squad members now 30 or above, leaving the squad's average age at 29.52.

Schalke: Average Age - 24.20

Of the youngest squads in Europe, Schalke are undoubtedly the biggest success story this season. Sitting 4th in the Bundesliga and with a realistic chance of maintaining a title challenge, Horst Heldt has come straight into the job and put his faith in the youth at the club with great effect.

Seven of the side's eleven most used players are aged 23 or under, while the likes Raul and Huntelaar have ensured a perfect blend of youth and experience, weighing in with 29 league goals between them. Three of the German outfit's biggest prospects (Joel Matip, Lewis Holtby and Kyriakos Papadopoulos) are already averaging over 7 in the WhoScored ratings and the future is clearly extremely bright at the Veltins-Arena.

Rennes: Average Age - 24.16

Frederic Antonetti has a pretty settled line-up at Rennes, with 6 of his players having featured in over 20 league games already this season. Of those 6, all but 1 (Julien Feret) are 25 or under, showing that they have the bulk of a starting XI that should be around for some time yet.

The player with the most caps for the club and without question the side's star man is Yann M'Vila, who at 21 is already a regular in the French national set-up. The defensive midfielder is indeed the team's top rated player according to WhoScored with an average of 7.05, weighing in with a hefty 3.2 tackles and 2.4 interceptions per game. With the French outfit currently lying in 7th place, but on the same points as 4th place Marseille, fans of les Rouges et Nois will know their squad is in good stead.

Nurnberg: Average Age - 24.13

Dieter Hecking lost two of his starlets in the summer in Mehmet Ekici (to Wolfsburg) and Ilkay Gundogan (to Dortmund) having finished the 2010/11 season in an excellent 6th place. The departures have certainly affected the side, who currently sit 12th in Germany's top league, though their young squad can only improve with time, provided that they avoid the drop this season.

A lack of experience at the back has been evident on occasion, but the young defenders at the club are arguably their most dependable players. Philipp Wollscheid has proven to be an excellent all round centre-back, excelling when it comes to long balls per game (8.5) and aerial success (85%) enough to earn a move to Bayer Leverkusen in the summer and leave a hole which may best be filled by an older alternative. The side are spearheaded by 22-year-old Tomas Pekhart, whose team high of 5 goals this season is the real issue at the Frankenstadion.

Toulouse: Average Age - 24.06

With the second youngest squad in Europe, Toulouse have an incredibly youthful but increasingly capable spine to their side, with 22-year-old Aymen Abennour setting the standard from the back with a rating of 6.92. The young Tunisian is aided by the dependable shield of Etienne Capoue ahead of him, whose 3 tackles per game is the most at the club and is coupled with a superb 3.3 interceptions per game to boot.

Elsewhere the likes of Cheikh M'Bengue and Franck Tabanou catch the eye down the left hand side for Alain Casanova's team, while the Frenchman has also been brave enough to field a young buck between the posts. At just 20 years old goalkeeper Ali Ahamada has started every league game for the club, earning a hugely respectable rating of 6.82 from WhoScored in the process - the third best of any keeper in the league.

Hoffenheim: Average Age - 23.71

As the only side in Europe's top 5 leagues whose squad average under the age of 24, Hoffenheim fans will be hopeful of an exciting future ahead at the Rhein-Neckar Arena. Perhaps the biggest prospect at the club right now is 20-year-old Brazilian Roberto Firmino, whose threat from in behind the striker is renowned among Bundesliga bosses. With 5 goals to his name he is yet to register an assist despite completing more key passes per game than any teammate (1.6).

Among the rest of the regular starting XI, defensive midfielder Sebastien Rudy and winger Peniel Kokou-Mlapa are 21, the former's double-pivot partner Daniel Williams is 22 and centre-back Isaac Vorsah is 23. While the likes of Schalke tend to field a greater number of young players from the start, the entirety of the Hofefnheim squad under manager Holger Stanislawski have plenty of years ahead of them. The oldest player to be fielded by the German is starting keeper Tom Starke, who at 30 is a relative spring chicken when it comes to his playing position!