Since July 2012, current big-5 league clubs have generated 1.07 billion € for the transfer of players from their youth academies. At the top of the table is Southampton (90 million €), ahead of LOSC Lille and Real Sociedad. The full tables are available in issue number 102 of the CIES Football Observatory Big-5 Weekly Post.
At league level, current French Ligue 1 clubs generated the most transfer fees for youth academy players (292 million €). At the bottom end of the table is Italian Serie A. This finding reflects the low level of club-trained players in Italian top division clubs (see here).
Fees received by Southampton for the transfer of Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw and Calum Chambers represent almost 40% of the total incomes of current Premier League clubs for the transfer of club-trained footballers during the last three seasons.
Southampton is an outstanding example of how youth training can constitute a key competitive advantage both sportingly and economically even in the richest league of the world.
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