The contribution of modern biological anthropology to player development and selection in elite soccer.

Identifying talented young soccer players is key to establishing the success of professional soccer clubs but is challenging and contains inherent risk. This paper suggests that adopting an interdisciplinary approach using disciplines outside of sport science will reveal a significant amount of pertinent research and knowledge that has yet to be applied to soccer. This is illuminated by the argument that modern biological anthropology frameworks and data, in particular, have the potential to enhance current practice and address gaps in knowledge and understanding. Using the example of biological maturation assessment, the paper demonstrates the limitations of the current methods used in sports science, the contribution that modern biological anthropology has made to our understanding of biological maturation and provides an agenda for future work through a more nuanced multidisciplinary approach.