Size isn’t everything, it’s what you do with it, as these diminutive Premier League players prove.
Using the figures from transfermarkt.com, Planet Sport has picked out each top-flight club’s smallest player and assessed the 20 sides’ overall squad height.
Arsenal
Mikel Arteta is in charge of the joint-eighth-smallest squad in the Premier League according to the numbers, with the Gunners having an average height of 182.1cm (5ft 11½in). Arteta himself is 7cm (2¾in) shorter than that.
It is right-back Cedric Soares who is the Gunners’ smallest, though, standing at 171cm (5ft 7¼in). Soares previously played for Sporting Lisbon and Coimbra in Portugal, as well as Southampton and Inter Milan.
Aston Villa
Steven Gerrard’s men sit joint-eighth with Arsenal in the overall height rankings, also with a collective average of 182.1cm (5ft 11½in). Team talks are a little easier at Villa Park, though, with the manager being 0.5cm (0.2in) taller than his squad.
He is certainly taller than his former Liverpool teammate Philippe Coutinho, who, at 172cm (5ft 7½in) is the shortest member of his side. Alongside his spell at Liverpool, the Brazilian has previously represented Inter Milan, Vasco da Gama, Espanyol, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich.
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