Academies play a vital role in building a successful football club. Scouting young talent and nurturing them into professional senior players can lead to profit and sustainability for a club. A select few teams have proven far more successful than others, so we explore some of the the most profitable club academies.
Most Profitable Club Academies
1. Benfica
Benfica are famous for having an incredible youth setup. They’ve produced some world class footballers over the years, but have also consistently shown their ability to fetch a premium for homegrown players.
This has allowed them to reinvest in their training facilities and develop unique coaching methods, which are known to be amongst the leading set-ups in Europe.
Over the years they’ve produced truly world-beating talent, the like of which have gone on to win trebles and World Cups. This includes: Bernardo Silva, Ederson, Ruben Dias, Joao Felix, Joao Cancelo, Angel Di Maria and Enzo Fernandez.
The Premier League has proven a popular customer, plucking Benfica’s talent off the end of the talent conveyor belt; more specifically Manchester City, who have frequented the Portuguese market to cherry pick the very best.
Overall, Benfica have made £442m from offloading their youth products.
2. Ajax
From Portugal to the Netherlands, where inevitably, Ajax make the list.
Of course, Johan Cruyff is the club’s most iconic export having grown up around the first team since a child, and making his debut at just 15 in 1965.
Ajax’s magnum opus was their 1995 Champions League triumph, which featured 12 graduates from the club’s fabled youth academy.
Other talents include: Frank De Boer, Dennis Bergkamp, Matthijs De Ligt, Rafael Van de Vart, Edgar Davies and Christian Eriksen.
Ajax’s youth players have made them £332m.
3. Lyon
This may come as a surprise for many, but Lyon have produced an abundance of world-class talent.
Particularly in the mid-noughties, Lyon were a force to be reckoned with in Europe as a result of their homegrown talent, although their academy has since transformed into a feeder for larger teams.
Alexandre Lacazette, Anthony Martial, Samuel Umtiti, Karim Benzema, Hugo Lloris, Nabil Fekir, Ferland Mendy and Corentin Tolisso are all Lyon graduates.
Lyon have made £315m but the Ligue 1 side have experienced a remarkable fall from grace, having won seven titles in a row at the start of the century.
4. Real Madrid
It’s Madrid’s El Clasico rivals, Barcelona, that have received most of the praise for their youth set-up, but it’s actually Los Blanocs that have profited the most money from their academy players.
The likes of Alvaro Morata, Casillas, Marcus Alonso, Juan Mata, Rodrigo, Saul Niguez and Samuel Eto’o all played in the Real Madrid youth team and went on to have successful careers.
Real Madrid made £309m from their youth players.
5. Chelsea
The only Premier League side to feature in the top five – Chelsea – have produced plenty of notable talents, and there are a few names on the list that you might be shocked to find out were once apart of the Cobham group.
The biggest names on the list include: Reece James, John Terry, Mason Mount, Connor Gallagher, Jamal Musiala, Nathan Ake, Declan Rice, Fikayo Tomori and Tammy Abraham.
Overall, the Blues have made £297m on their setup.
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