Rating is our scouting ceiling — how good a player could be, with age doing a lot of the talking (a gifted 19-year-old outranks a solid 32-year-old). Season is age-blind: purely how well he's playing right now. A wonderkid has a high Rating and a lower Season; a veteran having a great year is the reverse.

We blend minutes played, output (goals, assists, defensive actions, clean sheets), the strength of his league, and where his team sits in the table — then weight it by position so a centre-back is judged against centre-backs, not strikers. No vibes: every number traces back to what happened on the pitch.

We only count the games a player was fit for. Miss half a season injured and you're judged on the half you played, not punished for the physio room — though a very long spell is partly docked so a two-game cameo can't read like a full campaign.

The biggest year-on-year jump in our numbers — last completed season versus right now. We surface both the raw jump (great for spotting breakout seasons) and the biggest percentage change (great for finding younger risers coming off a low base).

Live match data across 30+ leagues, refreshed continuously, plus a transfer-news feed scored for credibility by the reliability of the outlets reporting each story. We're always widening coverage — lower divisions and international data are rolling in.