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News

Wed. 15 February 2023

Golden factories: top academies worldwide

Issue number 409 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post ranks teams worldwide according to the total estimated transfer value of their youth academy graduates (at least three years between the ages of 15 and 21) active in more than 50 professional leagues.

SL Benfica tops the table with a total academy graduates’ value of €670 million spread between 104 players, of which €151m for 20 footballers whose transfer rights are still owned by the Portuguese team.

Chelsea and Barcelona round up the podium. The total estimated transfer value of the 78 Chelsea’s academy graduates identified is €630m, while that of the 102 footballers trained by Barcelona is €581m. Three Brazilian teams are in the top 10: São Paulo, Santos and Flamengo. Considering only the players whose transfer rights are still owned by their training club, the top three consist of Chelsea (€325m), Barcelona (€280m) and Manchester City (€250m).

Transfer values were assessed through a statistical model exclusively developed by the CIES Football Observatory research team. A toolkit developed in association with Wyscout available on subscription notably includes the estimates for >30,000 players from 75 leagues worldwide. More information and a free trial access are available on demand.

>>> Top 100 academies

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