Despite the abundance of money that operates in football through transfers and wages – all of the world’s best players start out at humble beginnings, as products of various youth academy’s across all continents and countries.
For many clubs, a successful youth academy is often the key to their success both on the pitch in terms of the growth and production of world-class players, and for many clubs the sale and transfer fee they may provide them in the future.
Youth Academy’s are so important for the sport in producing the next generation of young talent – and the makings of a successful youth academy don’t happen overnight and often takes decades until you finally reap the rewards of the time and investments made into producing world-class academies.
There are thousands of youth academies to look at – but some have had more luck than others in producing the players we know and love, so without further ado, here are our top 10 youth academies…
10. R.S.C. Anderlecht
The Belgium club has produced some great talent over the years – with some of the most notable graduates from the club being Romelu Lukaku, Youri Tielemans, Dries Mertens, Vincent Kompany, Leander Dendoncker, Dennis Praet, and Dodi Lukebakio – all of which have gone on to become some of the best players of recent years, and some of the biggest talent to look forward too.
The club has managed to produce some great players on a tighter budget that some of the other clubs in Belgium – and current graduates such as Yari Verschaeren, Albert Sambi Lokonga, and Jérémy Doku who are in the club’s first team are all tipped for bright futures.
9. Southampton F.C.
The Saints have often been regarded as one of the best suppliers of young talent in England, and have produced some big names such as Alan Shearer and Matt Le Tissier back in the early ’90s, but it is there recent graduates that have been the eye-openers after the further development of their youth set-up.
Players such as Gareth Bale, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw, Theo Walcott, and James Ward-Prowse have all been results of Southampton’s academy – and some of which have gone on becoming Premier League and European Champions, and have been great examples of Southampton as a club on the international and domestic stages.
8. S.L. Benfica
For a country so small, Portugal boasts some of the best clubs with the best youth academies that the world has ever seen. SL Benfica in particular has produced some astronomical talent over recent years for the country, many of which have become national team regulars.
Big names such as Joao Felix, Bernardo Silva, Joao Cancelo, Ruben Dias, Andre Gomes, Gonçalo Guedes, Renato Sanches, and Gedson Fernandes have all come through Benfica’s academy over the past decade and amassed some record-breaking transfer fees over the past few years. Current Benfica players such as Ruben Dias, Florentino, and Tomas and Nuno Tavares are all products of the academy and are bright beacons for the future of Portuguese football.
7. KRC Genk
Another Belgian club on the list, KRC Genk are another fantastic example of the recent flourish of young Belgian talent that has taken football by storm over recent years.
As shown, some of the players that the club has produced have gone on to become some of the best in the world – such as Kevin De Bruyne, Thibaut Courtois, Timothy Castagne, Leandro Trossard, Steven Defour, and Koen Casteels are all recent examples of current players that have been very well known names in European Football, most notable De Bruyne who is regarded as the best midfielder in the world as of late.
Current graduates in the Genk first-team squad such as Maarten Vandevoordt, Bryan Heynen, and Casper De Norre all looking towards having bright careers.
6. Bayern Munich
The German club was proudly crowned as the best team in Europea just last month after beating PSG 1-0 in the Champions League final. This trophy-winning pedigree is something that is ingrained in the clubs youth system, and the club has produced some of the greatest German players of the modern era, as well as plenty of other star players of other countries.
Graduates such as Thomas Muller, Toni Kroos, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Philipp Lahm, Mats Hummels, Holger Badstuber, Emre Can, and David Alaba are all players to have gone onto to achieve great things with Bayern and at other clubs – as well as producing one of the best defenders ever in Franz Beckenbauer and World Cup-winning goalkeeper Sepp Maier.
Current youngsters such as Joshua Zirkzee, Oliver Batista Meier, Chris Richards, and Jamal Musila all looking like promising young talents.
5. Real Madrid
The talent that has exited Real’s academy over the years is quite astonishing – many of which that went on to become Galactico’s at the club and achieve remarkable feet with Real over the years.
The most notable graduates include Raul, Iker Casillas, Emiliano Butragueno, Guti, Juanfran, Michel, Dani Parejo, Juan Mata, Alvaro Morata, Carvajal, Saul Niguez, Nacho Fernandez, Achraf Hakimi, Pablo Sarabia, Sergio Reguilon, and Marcos Llorente – god I’m out of breath after that.
It is safe to say that the club doesn’t fail to produce, and even current graduate Federico Valverde has become a regular in the first team at Real.
4. Chelsea F.C.
The Blues have always been known in England for possessing an incredible youth setup, and the Chelsea youngsters have dominated the youth competitions in this country for years now.
Recent graduates have been called upon after the appointment of club legend Frank Lampard as a manager, such as Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Reece James, Fikayo Tomori, and Billy Gilmour. Other players such as Declan Rice, Tariq Lamptey, Nathan Ake, Ryan Bertrand, Bertrand Traore, Ola Aina, and Rhian Brester have all gone on to other clubs and seen relative success, and are likely to have bright futures.
Former graduates such as John Terry, Graeme Le Saux, Robert Huth, and Muzzy Izzet are all names which we will know and remember from the past few decades in the Premier League, with Terry being regarded as one of the best defenders to play the game.
3. Sporting Lisbon
Our second Portuguese club on the list, Sporting Lisbon has arguably produced one of the best players in the history of football in Cristiano Ronaldo.
Other academy graduates include Ricardo Pereira, Ricardo Quaresma, Joao Moutinho, Nani, Miguel Veloso, Luis Figo, Paolo Futre, Rui Patricio, William Carvalho, Daniel Podence, Gelson Martins, Eric Dier, Joao Mario, and Matheus Pereira.
It is incredible the amount of talent that has passed through Lisbon’s doors, and current players such as Joelson Fernandes, Eduardo Quaresma, Nuno Mendes, and Tiago Tomas all looking like the next big things to come out of the club.
2. Ajax
The school of football in the Netherlands – the Ajax academy are known for producing some of the best Dutch players of all time – names such as Johan Cruyff, Frank Rijkaard, Dennis Bergkamp, Frank and Ronald De Boer, Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf, Patrick Kluivert, Rafael van der Vaart, Wesley Sneijder, Marco van Basten, Edwin van der Sar, Daley Blind, Toby Alderweireld, Nigel de Jong, Jan Vertonghen, Donny van de Beek, Christian Eriksen, Frenkie De Jong, Matthijs De Ligt, Davy Klaassen, and Justin Kluivert to name a few. It is jaw dropping the quality and amount of talent that has been produced by the club – with many of them going on to leave lasting impacts on the game.
1. Barcelona F.C.
La Masia has been a hotbed of talent that has progressed through the ranks at Barcelona over the years – producing some astronomical players that have gone on to win things at the club that only some can dream of.
Notable graduates include Lionel Messi, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Carles Puyol, Pedro, Vicotr Valdes, Cesc Fabregas, and Gerard Pique.
A recent flourish of youth players have once again reignited the flame that La Masia possesses, with players such as Ansu Fati, Riqui Puig, Iñaki Peña, Juan Miranda, Alex Collado, and Oriol Busquets all looking as though the future of FC Barcelona is in thier hands after some turmoil and upset at the club after a period of unsuccess.