Summary · Question 11 of 14

Spanish goalkeepers in the top-9 leagues per million and their age at the first top-9 season, 2025/26

20 Spanish goalkeepers played ≥ 450 minutes in the top-9 leagues, 0.41 per million (rank 4 of 8), and their median age at the first top-9 season was 25 (n = 20) against 22 for outfield exports (n = 435).

Strip plot of age at first top-9-league appearance, Spanish goalkeepers against outfield exports, one dot per player, medians marked.
How to read it: one dot per player at the age of his first season in a top-9 league; goalkeepers in the upper strip, outfield exports in the lower, medians marked. Further left is an earlier first appearance.
Club tier: Spanish top-9 goalkeepers, 2025/26
PlayerClub LeagueMinutes Club goals percentile
David SoriaGetafeESP-La Liga3420 10 %
Antonio SiveraAlavésESP-La Liga3420 23 %
David RayaArsenalENG-Premier League3330 95 %
David de GeaFiorentinaITA-Serie A3330 38 %
Álex RemiroReal SociedadESP-La Liga3330 75 %
Unai SimónAthletic ClubESP-La Liga3330 35 %
Sergio HerreraOsasunaESP-La Liga3284 35 %
Aarón EscandellOviedoESP-La Liga3240 5 %
Robert SánchezChelseaENG-Premier League3039 78 %
Leo RománMallorcaESP-La Liga2970 60 %
Nacho MirasMechelenBEL-Pro League2925 38 %
Joel RoblesEstorilPOR-Primeira Liga2790 78 %
Joan GarciaBarcelonaESP-La Liga2700 100 %
Álvaro VallésReal BetisESP-La Liga2520 82 %
Julián CuestaAntalyasporTUR-Süper Lig1800 31 %
Julen AgirrezabalaValenciaESP-La Liga1620 50 %
Iñaki PeñaElcheESP-La Liga1440 60 %
Arnau TenasVillarrealESP-La Liga900 90 %
Pau LópezReal BetisESP-La Liga810 82 %
Josep MartinezInterITA-Serie A450 100 %
Goalkeeper production: Spanish keepers, 2025/26
PlayerClub LeagueMinutes Goals against per 90Saves per 90 Save %Clean-sheet share
David RayaArsenalENG-Premier League3330 0.701.59 66.3 %51 %
Robert SánchezChelseaENG-Premier League3039 1.452.87 66.0 %26 %
David de GeaFiorentinaITA-Serie A3330 1.323.22 68.7 %27 %
Josep MartinezInterITA-Serie A450 0.802.00 68.4 %60 %
Antonio SiveraAlavésESP-La Liga3420 1.472.55 68.1 %13 %
Unai SimónAthletic ClubESP-La Liga3330 1.462.62 68.2 %16 %
Joan GarciaBarcelonaESP-La Liga2700 0.702.47 69.7 %50 %
Iñaki PeñaElcheESP-La Liga1440 1.753.44 68.7 %25 %
David SoriaGetafeESP-La Liga3420 1.003.03 69.7 %32 %
Leo RománMallorcaESP-La Liga2970 1.523.00 68.5 %12 %
Sergio HerreraOsasunaESP-La Liga3284 1.293.10 69.2 %19 %
Aarón EscandellOviedoESP-La Liga3240 1.564.03 69.5 %28 %
Pau LópezReal BetisESP-La Liga810 1.223.22 69.0 %22 %
Álvaro VallésReal BetisESP-La Liga2520 1.293.11 69.1 %29 %
Álex RemiroReal SociedadESP-La Liga3330 1.622.68 67.9 %8 %
Julen AgirrezabalaValenciaESP-La Liga1620 1.672.89 68.4 %22 %
Arnau TenasVillarrealESP-La Liga900 1.603.00 68.7 %0 %
Joel RoblesEstorilPOR-Primeira Liga2790 1.742.68 65.6 %16 %
Nacho MirasMechelenBEL-Pro League2925 1.514.18 69.9 %24 %
Julián CuestaAntalyasporTUR-Süper Lig1800 1.703.95 68.8 %15 %
Goalkeepers per million, by country
BEL Belgium
1.78
NED Netherlands
1.39
POR Portugal
1.03
ESP Spain
0.41
ITA Italy
0.29
GER Germany
0.24
FRA France
0.21
ENG England
0.09
How we know

0.41 per million; first top-9 season at a median age of 25 (n = 20), against 22 for outfield exports (n = 435); with this few goalkeepers the two medians cannot be compared.

As an analytics question In numbers: Spanish goalkeepers with ≥ 450 minutes in the top-9 leagues, per million inhabitants, against outfield export age.

What we did We counted goalkeepers the same way we counted outfield players, then compared the age each group first reached one of the strongest leagues.

Sources 450-minute floor, 2025/26 rosters; goals against and saves per 90 are shrunk toward the league median with a prior worth 900 minutes, as every rate in the atlas; first season in a fetched top-9 table; players already there in 2020/21 are censored (55 % of the goalkeepers, 33 % of the outfield exports); a comparison of two pathways inside one nation, not a causal claim. First top-9 season needs no move for a La Liga keeper.

What this means

Spain had 20 goalkeepers with at least 450 minutes in the top-9 leagues. The age comparison rests on 20 goalkeepers, too few to tell two medians apart, and the per-million rank rests on counts of a few goalkeepers per country, where one player moves a country by several places.

What this does not show

Goalkeepers’ performance separated from their defence, goalkeepers in leagues outside the nine, and back-up goalkeepers below 450 minutes.

Data snapshot: FBref tables fetched 14 September 2026, snapshot commit ef7dbd4 · code: src/goalkeepers.py · status: exploratory, not pre-registered · all limitations