Common MRI findings in pre-signing medical assessments of professional soccer players.

Abstract

Background/aim: In professional soccer, comprehensive musculoskeletal assessments are performed prior to player transfers to evaluate both the current condition and future risk of injury. MRI plays a crucial role in this process, effectively revealing musculoskeletal findings even in the absence of symptoms. This study presents common musculoskeletal MRI findings in professional soccer players undergoing pre-signing assessments and their associations with age, playing position and footedness.

Methods: In this retrospective study, musculoskeletal 3 Tesla MRI scans obtained during pre-signing medical assessments of professional soccer players from August 2019 to March 2025 were included. Clinical data were extracted from medical records and supplemented with publicly available player information. Structural abnormalities exceeding expected physiological or age-related adaptations were systematically recorded and categorised according to institutional reporting practice.

Results: A total of 50 professional soccer players (mean age 25.4±4.7 years) were included. The most frequent MRI findings were secondary cleft signs and lumbar degenerative disc changes (in 21/50 and 20/50 players), followed by chondropathy of the knee (34%), labral degeneration (26%), femoroacetabular impingement (22%) and other soft tissue or bone-related changes. The prevalence of secondary clefts differed significantly across playing positions (χ²=8.07, p=0.045) with strikers showing the highest proportion (68.75%) compared with other groups.

Conclusions: Routine MRI screening in professional soccer players revealed typical frequent structural changes, even in the absence of symptoms. While most findings were consistently distributed across positions, some showed variation depending on playing position. These results highlight the value of early imaging in guiding individualised monitoring and injury prevention strategies.