5 best football academies in the world right now
The journey to the top of football has always started with humble beginnings for each and every footballer across the globe. From a very young age players spend time learning the skills and techniques that make them unique on the pitch.
But while many footballers would have first started playing on the streets, the influence of football academies was crucial in these players evolving into professionals.
Ajax and Barcelona's academies are well renowned
Many people know about Ajax and Barcelona's academies due to the sheer amount of quality talent they have produced over the years. The likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets have all graduated from La Masia. Meanwhile, the legendary Johan Cruyff, Clarence Seedorf and Wesley Sneijder have come out of Ajax's youth academy.
While both Ajax and Barcelona feature on this list, it is surprisingly another club that have overtaken them in the last few years.
So let's take a look at the top five football academies in the world right now:
#5 Paris Saint-Germain
The Paris Saint-Germain academy has always been strong, but in the last decade or so it has emerged as one of Europe's leading talent developers. This coincides with the emergence of a large number of talents in the Île-de-France region where Paris is located.
In many ways, the story of the Paris Saint-Germain Institute is the story of Île-de-France. It is a huge metropolis. In addition to the glitz and charm of parts of Paris, it is also home to a large number of socially disadvantaged groups from an immigrant background.
Just like South American players who developed their talents by playing street football, many of PSG's finest academy graduates have honed their skills by playing in residential areas in Île-de-France.
This has resulted in an good mix of PSG academy graduates, who have gone on to become superstars at various clubs across Europe. From lightning quick Moussa Diaby to creative Yacine Adli, the PSG academy has produced several talents. But it is Presnel Kimpembe who stands out. The defender has established himself as a regular in the first team unlike the others after graduating from the academy.
However, with the exception of Kimpembe, the club has largely struggled to integrate its finest products into the first team. Instead of giving their youth a chance, the club have brought in the likes of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe for enormous fees.
The likes of Adli, Diaby, Mike Maignan, Boubakary Soumare and Odsonne Edouard are just a few of the academy starlets who have left the club in the last decade.
List of academy graduates to have left Paris Saint-Germain since the QSI takeover of the club and where they went since.
They’ve historically been bad at keeping their academy players (even before QSI). Lots of French and German clubs have benefited in recent times. https://t.co/LDtqGba1r4
#4 Benfica
One of the biggest clubs in Portugal, SL Benfica have produced a lot of quality players in the last few years.
Alongside FC Porto and Sporting, Benfica have achieved a lot of success in Portugal. Part of that success can be attributed to the quality of players who have graduated from their academy and succeeded for them.
The club has produced a number of academy stars that have started at Benfica and have gone on to become successful at various top clubs across the continent.
Their academy graduates include Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias, Ederson and Joao Cancelo, who are all now part of Manchester City's star-studded squad. Victor Lindelof at Manchester United, Joao Felix at Atletico Madrid, Goncalo Guedes at Valencia and Renato Sanches at Lille are some of the other prominent Benfica academy graduates.
Would this team be able to compete in the Champions League?
Benfica's academy ➡️ tm.de/s/OWa
#Benfica #MCFC #EFC #Napoli #Valencia #Atleti https://t.co/o3KyL0fJvQ
Sporting Lisboa e Benfica Juniors also won the best academy award as recently as 2019, showing the lofty standards they have set for themselves.