An injury to one player can change the course of a team’s entire season – an example of this being Rodri’s recent cruciate tear causing Arsenal to leapfrog Manchester City as the bookies favourite to win the 2024/25 Premier League.
But who are the players that fan’s care most about when they get injured?
To answer this question we looked at search engine data to see how many people search for each Premier League clubs’ players’ injury statuses and injury updates.
Which Footballers Do We Want to Stay Fit the Most?
We looked at Ahrefs keyword data to find out how many times people Google: [footballer] injury in the week following an injury, here are the top 20 injuries, along with the injury sustained and month/year that the search occured:
Footballer | Club at time of injury | Search Volume | Injury type | Month |
Luke Shaw | Manchester United | 143,941 | Double leg break (64 games missed) | September 2015 |
Erling Haaland | Manchester City | 124,789 | Severe foot bruising (12 games missed) | December 2023 |
Virgil Van Dijk | Liverpool | 74,199 | Cruciate ligament tear (57 games missed) | October 2020 |
Bukayo Saka | Arsenal | 66,160 | Thigh strain (7 games missed) | October 2024 |
Mohammed Salah | Liverpool | 42,064 | Shoulder injury (2 games missed) | May 2018 |
Reece James | Chelsea | 35,743 | Strained knee ligaments (9 games missed) | October 2022 |
Mason Mount | Chelsea | 32,023 | Bruised ankle (1 game missed) | September 2019 |
Martin Odegaard | Arsenal | 31,971 | Twisted ankle (ongoing) | September 2024 |
Dominic Calvert-Lewin | Everton | 30,799 | Hamstring strain (2 games missed) | February 2021 |
Jarrod Bowen | West Ham | 29,541 | Bruised ankle (3 games missed) | January 2023 |
William Saliba | Arsenal | 27,340 | Slipped disc (16 games missed) | March 2023 |
Kevin De Bruyne | Manchester City | 27,252 | Bruised ankle (4 games missed) | October 2019 |
Diogo Jota | Liverpool | 27,107 | Knee ligament tear (13 games missed) | February 2024 |
Rodri | Manchester City | 25,251 | Knee ligament tear (ongoing) | September 2024 |
Alisson | Liverpool | 25,209 | Pulled calf muscle (15 games missed) | August 2019 |
Andy Robertson | Liverpool | 22,949 | Dislocated shoulder (24 games missed) | October 2023 |
Heung-Min Son | Tottenham Hotspur | 22,016 | Strained hamstring (4 games missed) | March 2021 |
James Maddison | Tottenham Hotspur | 19,330 | Damaged ankle ligaments (13 games missed) | October 2023 |
Dominic Solanke | AFC Bournemouth | 19,244 | Precaution (0 missed) | March 2024 |
Ollie Watkins | Aston Villa | 19,241 | Precaution (0 games missed) | March 2024 |
Nick Pope | Newcastle United | 17,922 | Dislocated shoulder (27 games missed) | December 2023 |
Anthony Gordon | Newcastle United | 17,303 | Precaution (0 games missed) | December 2023 |
Which Footballer Does Each Club Want to Keep Fit the Most?
I’ll now go through each Premier League club and find out which of their players’ injuries triggers the most Google searches.
Please note there was only enough data for the more popular clubs. Clubs where there was not enough data were: Bournemouth, Brentford, Fulham, Ipswich Town, Leicester City, Southampton and Nottingham Forest.
These tables only include current players and injuries sustained while at the club or on international duty while at the club.
Arsenal
Footballer | Search Volume | Injury type | Month |
Bukayo Saka | 66,160 | Thigh strain (7 games missed) | October 2024 |
Martin Odegaard | 31,971 | Twisted ankle (ongoing) | September 2024 |
William Saliba | 27,340 | Slipped disc (16 games missed) | March 2023 |
Aston Villa
Footballer | Search Volume | Injury type | Month |
Ollie Watkins | 19,241 | Precaution (0 games missed) | March 2024 |
Pau Torres | 2,622 | Unknown injury (1 game missed) | December 2024 |
John McGinn | 2,411 | Broken ankle (15 games missed) | December 2019 |
Brighton & Hove Albion
Footballer | Search Volume | Injury type | Month |
Evan Ferguson | 15,841 | Strained ankle ligaments (11 game missed) | September 2023 |
Kaoru Mitoma | 8,987 | Sprained ankle (3 games missed) | November 2023 |
Solly March | 8,339 | Cruciate ligament tear (47 games missed) | September 2023 |
Chelsea
Footballer | Search Volume | Injury type | Month |
Reece James | 35,743 | Strained knee ligaments (9 games missed) | October 2022 |
Christopher Nkunku | 18,840 | Strained knee ligaments (15 games missed) | August 2024 |
Cole Palmer | 14,332 | Cold (0 games missed) | April 2024 |
Crystal Palace
Footballer | Search Volume | Injury type | Month |
Dean Henderson | 6,685 | Torn hamstring (10 games missed) | September 2023 |
Ebereche Eze | 5,286 | Achilles tendon inflammation (26 games missed) | May 2021 |
Marc Guehi | 826 | Knee injury (13 games missed) | February 2024 |
Everton
Footballer | Search Volume | Injury type | Month |
Dominic Calvert-Lewin | 30,799 | Hamstring strain (2 games missed) | February 2021 |
Abdoulaye Doucoure | 1,909 | Stress fracture (11 games missed) | October 2021 |
Jarrad Branthwaite | 1,597 | Groin surgery (ongoing) | August 2024 |
Liverpool
Footballer | Search Volume | Injury type | Month |
Virgil Van Dijk | 74,199 | Cruciate ligament tear (57 games missed) | October 2020 |
Mohammed Salah | 42,064 | Shoulder injury (2 games missed) | May 2018 |
Diogo Jota | 27,107 | Knee ligament tear (13 game missed) | February 2024 |
Manchester City
Footballer | Search Volume | Injury type | Month |
Erling Haaland | 124,789 | Severe foot bruising (12 games missed) | December 2023 |
Kevin De Bruyne | 27,252 | Bruised ankle (4 games missed) | October 2019 |
Rodri | 25,251 | Knee ligament tear (ongoing) | September 2024 |
Manchester United
Footballer | Search Volume | Injury type | Month |
Luke Shaw | 143,941 | Double leg break (64 games missed) | September 2015 |
Lisandro Martinez | 13,919 | Calf strain (6 games missed) | April 2024 |
Bruno Fernandes | 5,806 | Precaution (0 games missed) | July 2020 |
Newcastle United
Footballer | Search Volume | Injury type | Month |
Nick Pope | 17,992 | Dislocated shoulder (27 games missed) | December 2023 |
Anthony Gordon | 17,303 | Precaution (0 games missed) | December 2023 |
Alexander Isak | 8,200 | Groin strain (8 games missed) | October 2023 |
Tottenham Hotspur
Footballer | Search Volume | Injury type | Month |
Heung-Min Son | 22,016 | Strained hamstring (4 games missed) | March 2021 |
James Maddison | 19,330 | Damaged ankle ligaments (13 games missed) | October 2023 |
Rodrigo Bentancur | 6,089 | Sprained ankle (6 games missed) | November 2023 |
West Ham United
Footballer | Search Volume | Injury type | Month |
Jarrod Bowen | 29,541 | Bruised ankle (3 games missed) | January 2023 |
Michail Antonio | 4,118 | Hamstring strain (3 games missed) | February 2021 |
Lucas Paqueta | 3,609 | Pulled calf muscle (7 games missed) | January 2024 |
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Footballer | Search Volume | Injury type | Month |
Matheus Cunha | 6,724 | Precaution (0 games missed) | February 2024 |
Jose Sa | 2,148 | Precaution (0 games missed) | December 2023 |
Hee Chan Hwang | 1,219 | Pulled hamstring (9 games missed) | March 2024 |
Commenting on these findings, amateur football coach and owner of Our Sporting LIfe Stacey MacNaught said:
“This data demonstrates how reliant certain clubs are on individual players.
For example, Man Utd’s third most searched player was Bruno Fernandes, despite his injury keeping him out for 15 minutes at the end of the game.
The same is true for Chelsea and Cole Palmer. Palmer is Chelsea’s third most Googled player for injury updates when all he had was a cold that did not keep him out for a single game.
Anthony Gordon is another example of this for Newcastle. A niggle that meant he was subbed off for the last ten minutes made him their second most Googled player for injury updates.”
Methodology
To find out which footballers’ injuries got the most attention from fans Our Sporting Life looked at the last 5 years of search engine data from keyword tool Ahrefs to find out search volumes for [player] injury.
This included the month with the swell in search volume and we then used Transfermarkt.co.uk to match this up with the specific injury that triggered the interest and its severity.
