Best Youth Academies in Football Manager 2022: Top 100 Wonderkids Factories on FM22

Peñarol / Uruguay

Division: Campeonato Uruguay
Transfer Budget: €29K

Toulouse / France

Division: Ligue 2
Transfer Budget: €2Mill

Zulte Waregem / Belgium

Division: Jupiler Pro
Transfer Budget: €1.5Mill

Hibernian / Scotland

Division: cinch Premiership
Transfer Budget: €350K

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Talents

Connor Young – 01.08.2004 – ST
Josh Doig – 18.05.2002 – D/WBL
Ethan Laidlaw – 02.01.2005 – ST
Murray Johnson – 13.11.2004 – GK

PAOK / Greece

Division: Super League
Transfer Budget: €1.4Mill

Os Belenenses / Portugal

Division: Liga Portugal Bwin
Transfer Budget: €

Cerro Porteño / Paraguay

Division: COPA Tigo
Transfer Budget: €2.5Mill

Sochaux-Montbéliard / France

Division: Ligue 2
Transfer Budget: €350K

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Talents

Malcolm Nebodon – 26.01.2003 – DM/M/AMC
Rassoul Ndiaye – 1112.2001 – MRC/AMR
Samy Faraj – 14.10.2001 – M/AMLC
Alan Virginius – 03.01.2003 – M/AMRL

Servette / Switzerland

Division: Raiffeisen Super League
Transfer Budget: €0

FK Molde / Norway

Division: Eliteserien
Transfer Budget: €955K

Deportivo Cali / Colombia

Division: Liga BetPlay D.
Transfer Budget: €

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Talents

Daniel Luna – 07.05.2003 – AMC
Brayan Montaño – 02.05.2002 – D/WBL
José Mulato – 09.01.2003 – AMRL/ST
Andrés Arroyo – 20.01.2002 – AMRLC

Independiente del Valle / Ecuador

Division: LigaPro Serie A
Transfer Budget: €631K

FC Midtjylland / Denmark

Division: 3F Superliga
Transfer Budget: €6.7Mill

Groningen / Holland

Division: Eredivisie
Transfer Budget: €1Mill

Celtic / Scotland

Division: cinch Premiership
Transfer Budget: €

Rangers / Scotland

Division: cinch Premiership
Transfer Budget: €

FC Zürich / Switzerland

Division: Raiffeisen Super League
Transfer Budget: €0K

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Talents

Silvan Walnner – 02.05.2002 – DRC
Labinot Bajrami – 04.06.2005 – ST
Pirosch Fischer – 23.07.2004 – AMRLC/ST
Becir Omeragic – 20.01.2002 – DC
Wilfried Gnonto – 05.11.2003 – AMRLC/ST

Boca Juniors / Argentina

Division: Liga Professional
Transfer Budget: €2.5Mill

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Talents

Ezequiel Fernández – 25.07.2002 – DM/MC
Leonel Coira – 29.03.2004 – MRC/AMC
Exequiel Zeballos – 24.04.2002 – AMRL/ST
Valentin Barco – 23.07.2004 – D/WB/ML
Aaron Molinas – 02.08.2000 – MRC/AMC

Palmeiras / Brazil

Division: Brasilieirão Assai
Transfer Budget: €4.8Mill

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Talents

Gabriel Vareta – 16.05.2005 – DC
Gabriel Veron – 03.09.2002 – AMRL/ST
Giovani – 01.01.2004 – AMRL
Gabriel Silva – 22.03.2002 – AMRLC/ST
Renan – 19.05.2002 – DLC

Club America / Mexico

Division: Liga BBVA MX
Transfer Budget: €5Mill

Porto / Portugal

Division: Liga Portugal Bwin
Transfer Budget: €3Mill

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Mariano Regal – 14.02.2005 – DM
Diogo Abreu – 04.01.2003 – M/AMC
David Vinhas – 28.03.2003 – DC
Gabriel Brás – 25.03.2004 – DC
Francisco Conceicão – 14.12.2002 – AMR

SS Lazio / Italy

Division: Serie A
Transfer Budget: €

AS Monaco / France

Division: Ligue 1
Transfer Budget: €15Mill

Grasshoppers / Switzerland

Division: Raiffeisen Super League
Transfer Budget: €464K

Envigado / Colombia

Division: Liga Aguila
Transfer Budget: €

Ones to Watch – Under-21 Talents

Julián Palacio – 07.08.2003 – MC
Santiago Asprilla – 11.06.2004 – GK
William Hurtado – 31.05.2005 – AMC
Jhon Durán – 13.12.2003 – ST

Dinamo Zagreb / Croatia

The Dinamo Zagreb Academy has placed itself as one of the biggest producers of talents for the past decade. It can pride itself to develop Ballon D’Or winner Luka Modric. Their proven record of producing the best talents in Croatia is based on the simple philosophy of giving their youth a pathway to first team football with the idea that the first team squad shall possess of 50% Academy players.

Each season it aims to move their best players over 21 on to higher levels of football to give place for the new crop of talents.

For the past years the club has netted around €20Mill in income from selling their best players each season with recent departures Dani Olmo to Leipzig, Filip Benkovic to Leicester the year before and Marko Pjaca to Juventus in 2016/17 season which shows how the club has served international footballers with technical gifted players.

Now a new crop of talents are emerging and expectations of Martin Baturina, Antonio Marin, Marko Bulat and Ivan Saranic are high! Dinamo Zagreb is truly a role model club for their way of running the club financially and for those who wants to employ a proper youth development plan based on producing local players.

Division: Hrvatski Telekom
Transfer Budget: €4Mill

Ones to Watch – Under-21 Talents

Tomislav Duvnjak – 05.02.2003 – DM/MC
Zlatan Koscevic – 12.02.2005 – ST
Martin Baturina – 16.02.2003 – M/AMC
Ivan Saranic – 12.05.2003 – MR/AMRC
Marko Bulat – 26.09.2001 – DM/MC

C Libertad / Paraguay

Division: Copa TIGO
Transfer Budget: €2.4Mill

Maccabi Tel-Aviv / Israel

Division: Tel Aviv Stock Exchange
Transfer Budget: €1

Farul Constanta / Romania

Division: Liga 1
Transfer Budget: €N/A

Banik Ostrava / Czech Rep.

Division: Liga Profesional
Transfer Budget: €420K

River Plate / Argentina

We head over the Atlantic ocean, to the land were the best footballers of all time have been produced. We’re talking about Argentina of course, the country who gave us Lionel Messi and Diego Armando Maradona. With 36 league titles, 10 cup trophies and 16 international tournament wins, it’s one of the most successful clubs in the country.

As one of the leading clubs in the country at youth development we find River Plate. From here, Ariel Ortega, Hernan Crespo, Oscar Más and Alfredo Di Stéfano erupted. All magnificent players with an eye for the goal. But it’s not only forwards they are most known to produce. also some of the best defenders in Argentina have come through the ranks of River Plate; Martin Demichelis, Javier Mascherano and Matias Almeyda.

If we also include players who have played for the club, such as Daniel Passarella, Ubaldo Fillol and Gabriel Batistuta, you can see the River Plate players have made an huge impact on the Argentinian national team.

Division: Liga Profesional
Transfer Budget: €420K

For a complete history of Club Atlético River Plate, check out this great read.

Crvena Zvezda / Serbia

Division: Linglong Tire
Transfer Budget: €2.7Mill

Ones to Watch – Under-21 Talents

Marko Lazetic – 22.01.2004 – ST
Strahinja Erakovic – 22.01.2001 – DC
Aleksandar Kahvic – 02.01.2004 – ST
Petar Stanic – 14.08.2001 – M/AMC
Stefan Marinkovic – 21.01.2005 – GK

Partizan / Serbia

Division: Linglong Tire
Transfer Budget: €1.85Mill

Ones to Watch – Under-21 Talents

Samed Bazdar – 31.01.2004 – AMC/ST
Marko Milovanovic – 04.08.2003 – ST
Vanja Vlahovic – 23.03.2004 – AMRC/ST
Lazar Pavlovic – 02.11.2001 – AMC
Nemanja Jovic – 08.08.2002 – M/AML

At. Nacional / Colombia

Division: Liga BetPlay D.
Transfer Budget: €841K

Malmö FF / Sweden

Division: Allsvenskan
Transfer Budget: €1.96Mill

Ones to Watch – Under-21 Talents

Markus Björkqvist – 04.09.2003 – MC
Melker Ellborg – 22.05.2003 – GK
David Edvardsson – 05.03.2002 – DM/MC
Sebastian Nanasi – 16.05.2002 – AMRLC/ST
Peter Gwargis – 04.09.2000 – M/AMRC

Universidad Catolica / Chile

Division: Campeonato AFP
Transfer Budget: €2.1Mill

Sevilla / Spain

Division: La Liga
Transfer Budget: €5Mill

Ones to Watch – Under-21 Talents

Juanlu – 15.08.2003 – D/WB/M/AMR
Carlos Álvarez – 01.08.2003 – AMRLC/ST
Pablo Pérez – 18.08.2001 – D/WB/M/AML
Antonio Zarzana – 01.04.2002 – AMRLC

Colo Colo / Chile

Division: Campeonato AFP
Transfer Budget: €636K

Botev Plovdiv / Bulgaria

Division: efbet Liga
Transfer Budget: €1

Ludogorets / Bulgaria

Division: La Liga
Transfer Budget: €1.78Mill

Derby / England

Division: Sky Bet Championship
Transfer Budget: €1

Sporting Gijon / Spain

Division: La Liga
Transfer Budget: N/A

Schalke 04 / Germany

Division: Bundesliga 2
Transfer Budget: €0

At. Madrid / Spain

Division: La Liga
Transfer Budget: €0

Braga / Portugal

Division: Liga Portugal Bwin
Transfer Budget: €5Mill

Inter Milan / Italy

Division: Serie A
Transfer Budget: €5Mill

Maccabi Haifa / Israel

Division: Tel Aviv Stock Exchange
Transfer Budget: €199K

Sturm Graz / Austria

Division: Bundesliga
Transfer Budget: €1.5Mill

Bodø-Glimt / Norway

Division: Eliteserien
Transfer Budget: €2.67Mill

FC Nordsjælland / Denmark

Division: 3F Superliga
Transfer Budget: €4.4Mill

Slavia Prague / Czech Rep.

Division: Fortuna liga
Transfer Budget: €7.8Mill

Sparta Prague / Czech Rep.

Division: Fortuna liga
Transfer Budget: €7.8Mill

Espanyol / Spain

Division: La Liga
Transfer Budget: €5Mill

Vålerenga / Norway

Division: Eliteserien
Transfer Budget: €N/A

Stabæk / Norway

Division: Eliteserien
Transfer Budget: €955K

Stade Rennais / France

Division: Ligue 1
Transfer Budget: €15Mill

Valencia / Spain

Division: La Liga
Transfer Budget: €2Mill

Feyenoord / Holland

While Anderlecht and Basel has served the national team of their respective nations, Feyenoord has had close competition from AFC Ajax and PSV to serve the Dutch National team with the next starlet. While Ajax has lead the way and produced some of the best footballers the world ever have seen, Feyenoord was the stepping stone for Wim Jansen, Jordie Clasie, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Royston Drenthe, Dirk Kuyt and Robin van Persie.

The Feyenoord Academy (aka Varkenoord) has won the Rinus Michels award for the best academy in the nation multiple times, most recently in 2014. At that time, they won the award for the fifth times in a row. Now their class of 2001-2002 can lead the club to new glories with continued focus on their development.

Division: Eredivisie
Transfer Budget: €500K

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Gjivai Zechiël – 01.06.2004 – DM/MC
Rainey Breinburg – 05.08.2005 – D/WBL
Jaden Slory – 09.05.2005 – AMR
Jayden Candelaria– 02.03.2004 – DLC/WBL
Antoni Milambo – 03.04.2005 – M/AMC

Villarreal / Spain

Division: La Liga
Transfer Budget: €15Mill

Austria Wien / Austria

Division: Bundesliga
Transfer Budget: €500K

Admira Wacker Mödling / Austria

Division: Bundesliga
Transfer Budget: €300K

Pachuca / Mexico

Division: Liga BBVA MX
Transfer Budget: €4.2Mill

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Fernando Alvarez – 24.08.2003 – DC
José Eulogio – 11.02.2004 – GK
Bryan González – 10.04.2003 – M/AML
Eduardo Mustre – 21 .01.2003 – ST

AC Milan / Italy

Division: Serie A
Transfer Budget: €18.5Mill

Arsenal / England

With 22 years in charge of Arsenal, the impact and influence Arsene Wenger have had on the club and its Academy is unavoidable for us to speak about as he took the club to a whole new level in terms of professionalism in training and signing players.

Personally, I’ve always looked at Arsenal as the club developing some of the best defenders in England, perhaps due to Ashley Cole, Armand Traore, Martin Keown, Tony Adams, but they’ve also been the home for Andy Cole, Ray Parlour, Paul Merson and a large range of other notable international stars who entered the club at a young age like Cesc Fabregas, Wojciech Szczesny, Serge Gnabry, Nicklas Bendtner and Héctor Bellerín.

In recent years we’ve seen Bukayo Saka, Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nkietah, Emile Smith-Rowe and Joe Willock come through the Academy. The club has served the Premier League with regular first team players for the past decade and will continue to do so with Mikel Arteta in charge and former players like Steve Bould and Per Mertesacker in the coaching staff who knows what it takes to become a professional footballer, so future looks definitely bright for the Gunners.

Division: Premier League:
Transfer Budget: €18.5Mill

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Mika Biereth – 08.02.2003 – ST
Amani Richards – 16.11.2004 – AMRLC/ST
Marcelo Flores – 01.10.2003 – AMRLC/ST
Omari Hutchinson – 29 .10.2003 – MC/AMRLC
Charlie Patino – 17.10.2003 – DM/M

Anderlecht / Belgium

Just outside the top 10 we find Anderlecht, the most successful club in Belgium with five European competition trophies, 34 championship titles and 9 cup wins. They have served the Belgium national team with some of their best players upon history and are still pushing out wonderkids and talents every season.

In their long and pride history players like Vincent Kompany, Romelu Lukaku, Dries Mertens, Youri Tielemens and Dennis Praet have emerged from the Belgium powerhouse, right in the outskirt of Brussel in the past years. Include former Beligum national players such as Anthony Vanden Borre, Enzo Scifo, Luc Nilis and Walter Baseggio.

With an explicit focus on playing the Anderlecht way, Jean Kindermans, the director of the Anderlecht academy and the clubs scouting network looks to the region of Brussel to track down the best talents within the region of Brussel between the age of 6 to 12.

The club has served 35% of the Belgium national team for the World Cup 2018 with the latest players to emerge from the Anderlecht academy; Yari Verschaeren, who’s labelled as the new Eden Hazard, Jeremy Doku, and attacking midfielder Mario Stroeykens.

Division: Jupiler Pro
Transfer Budget: €4Mill

READ MORE | The Anderlecht Academy Way

Olympique Lyonnais / France

Division: Ligue 1
Transfer Budget: €20Mill

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Breyton Fougeu – 06.01.2004 – AML/ST
Mohamed El Arouch – 06.04.2004 – MC
Malo Gusto – 19.05.2003 – D/WBR
Florent da Silva – 02.03.2003 – M/AMC
Rayan Cherki – 17.08.2003 – AMRLC/ST

READ MORE | How Lyon Built a Production Line for World-Class Talent [EXTERNAL]

Real Sociedad / Spain

Division: La Liga
Transfer Budget: N/A

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Urko González de Zárate – 20.03.2001 – DC/DM
Robert Navarro – 12.04.2002 – AMRLC
Beñat Turrientes – 31.01.2002 – DM/MC
Jon Karrikaburu – 19.09.2002 – ST

Legia Warzawa / Poland

Division: Ekstraklasa
Transfer Budget: €438K

Bor. Dortmund / Germany

Division: Bundesliga
Transfer Budget: €10Mill

Southampton / England

Current Southampton manager, Ralph Hasenhüttl, is the perfect fit for the club. The former RB Leipzig manager who worked with Naby Keita, Dayot Upamecano, Timo Werner and Lukas Klostermann is used to working with youngsters. Southampton is famed for their Academy and is one of the leading clubs in England. Their current vision of producing at least 50% of the first team from the Academy is highly sustainable in these times.

Southampton, who have seen Alan Shearer, Theo Walcott, Dennis Wise, Matt Le Tissier, Gareth Bale and most recently James Ward-Prowse, Luke Shaw and Calum Chambers come through the ranks, has rose from League One football 10 years ago to establish itself in the Premier League whilst producing notable Premier League players.

Under the management of Edd Vahid and Matt Hale, the Academy is in the best hands to produce some of the best English players for the forseeable future. In FM22 you’ll have around 3 players in each age group from 16 to 18 who all have the potential to reach the top levels of English football league.

Division: Premier League
Transfer Budget: €5.8Mill

Standard Liege / Belgium

Division: Jupiler Pro
Transfer Budget: €2Mill

Bayern München / Germany

Division: Bundesliga
Transfer Budget: €30Mill

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Eyüp Aydin – 02.08.2004 – DM/MC
Nemanja Motika – 20.03.2003 – AMRLC
Torben Rhein – 12.01.2003 – DM/M/AMC
Bright Arrey-Mbi – 26.03.2003 – DLC
Gabriel Vidovic – 01.12.2003 – M/AMC/ST

Atalanta / Italy

Atalanta has been the revelation in Serie A and Champions League since 2019-2020 season, they are now qualifying regularly for the UEFA Champions League. The club from Bergamo has never won the Serie A, but got their 3rd place last season as their best achievement to date.

The Nerazzurri past records of producing talents can be rated similar to Southampton and PSV as they have frequently served the Italian National team and been the stepping stone for great Italian footballers. Gaetano Scirea, Alessio Tacchinardi, Simone Zaza, Riccardo Montolivo, Simone Padoin, Marco Motta are just some of many who have plyed their way through the Academy and made a remark in Serie A and international football for years.

In recent years, Atalanta has managed to produce some regular Serie A first team players in Alessandro Bastoni, Davide Zappacosta, Musa Barrow and Dejan Kulusevski. Under the last four years under the tutelage of manager Gian Piero Gasperini, Amad Traoré received his first team debut in October 2019 becoming the youngest ever player in Serie A [2] – a feat later surpassed by Luka Romero.

NB! The seond youngest league debutant in Serie A is Atalanta’s 17-year old defender, Giorgio Scalvini.

Atalanta must be one of the clubs with the most affiliated clubs and should have every opportunity to attract the interest of the best juniors in Italy with their exceptional youth recruitment and agreements to loan out and poach players with their partnerships.

Division: Serie A
Transfer Budget: €16Mill

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Alessio Rosa – 14.05.2003 – ST
Giorgio Scalvini – 11.12.2004 – DC
Emmanuel Gyabuaa – 21.09.2001 – DM/MC
Matteo Ruggeri -11.07.2002 – D/WB/ML
Roberto Piccoli – 27.01.2001 – ST

FC Basel / Switzerland

Division: Raiffeisen Super League
Transfer Budget: €0

Paris SG / France

Division: Ligue 1
Transfer Budget: €45Mill

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Sekou Doucoure – 26.04.2005 – DC
Noah Lemina – 17.06.2005 – AMRL
Ismaël Gharbi – 10.04.2004 – AMC
Timothée Pembélé – 09.09.2002 – DRC
El Chadaille Bitshiabu – 16.05.2005 – DC

Athletic Club / Spain

Division: La Liga
Transfer Budget: €25Mill

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Mikel Goti – 23.05.2002 – MC/AMRC
Nico Serrano – 05.03.2003 – M/AMRLC/ST
Nico Williams – 12.07.2002 – M/AMRL

AZ Alkmaar / Holland

Division: Eredivisie
Transfer Budget: €5Mill

PSV / Holland

As AFC Ajax has lead the way of producing some of the best Dutch footballers in Europe, PSV has acted like a stepping stone for a range of players who have taken the international level. Kevin Strootman, who later moved to AS Roma, Jaap Stam (Manchester United), Ruud van Nistelrooy who scored 62 goals in 67 appearances for PSV and was thereby signed by Manchester United, Ibrahim Afellay who was caught by Barcelona and Ronald Koeman who went from Groningen through Ajax before ending up at Barcelona, as well as Arjen Robben (Chelsea), are just some of the names profitted from the training setup of PSV.

PSV might not have developed the biggest wonderkids in Netherlands, at least within my knowledge, but the club has started to reach the same level as Feyenoord in recent years. The latest starlet to emerge is definitely Mohamed Ihattaren – now at Juventus! Within the youth ranks, PSV got a number of promising talents to watch for the future… So check out the PSV Academy to identify the next Dutch starlets!

Division: Eredivisie
Transfer Budget: €15Mill

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Jamal Gonzaga – 27.10.2004 – M/AMC
Emmanuel Van de Blaak – 15.02.2005 – DC
Jevon Simons – 31.07.2005 – AMRC
Jason van Duiven – 24.02.2005 – ST
Isaac Babadi – 05.04.2005 – M/AMC
Noni Madueke – 10.03.2002 – M/AMRLC

Real Madrid / Spain

Division: La Liga
Transfer Budget: €60Mill

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

David de la Vibora – 03.01.2003 – D/WB/ML
Lucas Cañizares – 10.05.2002 – GK
Andri L. Gudjohnsen – 29.01.2002 – ST
Julen Jon Guerrero – 14.04.2004 – M/AMC
Bruno Iglesias – 01.05.2003 – AMLC

AFC Ajax / Holland

On the top of the list of world clubs where players have departed to reach the five major European leagues ranked by Football Observatory we find AFC Ajax ahead of Benfica and RB Salzburg. Their records of departing 22 players to one of the major European leagues tells us their the best stepping stone club in Europe by March 2020.

From their ranks Dutch legends and fantastic players who have taken the world with storm has been pushed out on a regular basis. From Rinus Michels, Johan Cruyff, Ruud Krol and the Total Football era, to Frank Rijkaard, Dennis Bergkamp, Marco van Basten, Frank de Boer, Edgar Davids and Patrick Kluivert, to more rising heroes in Matthijs de Ligt, Justin Kluivert and Donny van den Beek.

A lot of expectations lies on the shoulders of De Toekomst graduates. We all expect to see tactical and technical gifted players emerge every season. It’s truly remarkable what they manage to achieve! Perhaps the key lies in a persistant training philosophy, playing identity and spending focus and money on youth development and forming the players from a young age into the identity of the club as the football philosophy goes all the way back to the Under-7 teams; the Ajax TIPS Model.

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Rico Speksnijder – 23.02.2005 – DM/M/AMC
Stanis Idumbo Muzambo – 29.06.2005 – M/AMC
Amourricho van Axel Dongen – 29.09.2004 – AML
Gabriel Misehouy – 18.07.2005 – M/AMC
Naci Ünüvar – 18.01.2002 – AMLC/ST

Division: Eredivisie
Transfer Budget: €35Mill

RB Salzburg / Austria

RB Salzburg has really come to one’s attention the past year. Here we must accredit the purchase of Erling Braut Haaaland, his goal scoring records and their fine achievements in Champions League and Europa League for the past two seasons. Under the tutelage of up and coming American manager, Jesse Marsch, a host of under-21 talents has been given a chance for the first team (current average age 24).

In difference to Benfica or Tottenham, the club have become famous for swooping up talents with their exceptional scouting range and knowledge of Red Bull GmbH and their ownership of football clubs such as RB Leipzig. Players like Sadio Mané, Naby Keita, Stefan Lainer, Martin Hinteregger, Valentino Lazaro, Xaver Schlager and most recently Takumi Minamino, the club has used scouting as a tool to improve their finances by scouring after talents who have for a number of reasons not been able to reach the highest level, develop them and sell for quite a turnover.

RB Salzburg is one the top 10 clubs in Europe who focuses a great deal on youth development and have even a club vision of signing under 20 players for the first team, as well as maintaining the best youth system in the country.

Read more about why Red Bull Salzburg is one of the best run club in the modern world of football.

Division: Bundesliga
Transfer Budget: €20Mill

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Talents

Roko Simic – 10.09.2003 – ST
Bryan Okoh – 16.05.2003 – DC
Luka Sucic – 08.09.2002 – M/AMC
Benjamin Sesko – 31.05.2003 – ST
Karim Adeyemi – 18.01.2002 – AMR/ST

KRC Genk / Belgium

To the East of Brussel close to the border of Germany we find the Limburg region with the former Jupiler Pro league champions KRC Genk. Famed for developing Kevin de Bruyne into the current world’s best playmaker, one of the top 10 goalkeepers in the world Thibaut Courtois, Leicester’s N’Golo Kante, Wilfred Ndidi, as well as Atletico Madrid starlet Yannick Carrasco and Liverpool’s Divock Origi.

Include great footballers who have used KRC Genk as their stepping stone, such as Kalidou Koulibaly who’s one of the most wanted defenders in world football today, Wesley Sonck, Steven Defour, Didier Zokora and Christian Benteke who have had two spells for the club as a youngster before later kicking off his career at Aston Villa and Liverpool.

Their records has managed to increase the interest for players in Scandinavia and outside Europe, such as African and South American players to use the club as their stepping stone for Premier League football or reaching the top level of football.

Latest players to emerge from the Genk academy is goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt, who received his first team debut December 7th 2019 against Cercle Brugge and three days later becoming the youngest ever Champions League goalkeeper debutant (17) against Napoli, and Luca Oyen.

Division: Jupiler Pro
Transfer Budget: €5Mill

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Sami Sakkali – 31.12.2004 – AMR
Kamiel van de Perre – 12.04.2004 – GDC/DM/MC
Luca Oyen – 12.04.2004 – AMLC/ST
Benjamin Nygren – 08.07.2001 – MC/AMRLC/ST
Maarten Vandevoordt – 26.02.2002 – GK

Sporting / Portugal

The youth academy of Sporting can be labeled as a world class institution. Three times award winner of the prestigious Ballon D’Or, Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani, Luis Figo, Eric Dier, Paulo Futre, Simão Sabrosa, Luis Boa Morte and Ricardo Quaresma are just some of the fortunate players who have received their football education at the Sporting Clube de Portugal Youth and Academy.

In fact, eight of eleven players who started for Portugal in the Euro 2016 final was a product of Sporting CP.

Sporting Lisbon is the only club in the world that has developed and trained two FIFA World Players of the year, Luis Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Diogo Matos, Head of Youth academy, Sporting Clube de Portugal, 2012¹

Under the tutelage of youth recruitment director Aurelio Pereira he has overseen the development of Portuguese icons like Figo, Paulo Futre, Simão Sabrosa, João Moutinho, Cedric, Ricardo Quaresma and Nani.

We are a small country but we produce the world’s best.

Bruno de Carvalho, President, Sporting Clube de Portugal, 2016¹

Division: Liga Portugal Bwin
Transfer Budget: €3Mill

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Tiago Tomás – 16.06.2002 – AMR/ST
Diogo Pinto – 18.06.2004 – GK
Bruno Tavares – 16.04.2002 – AMRLC
Rodrigo Ribeiro – 28.04.2005 – AMR/ST
Guilherme Santos – 06.02.2005 – M/AMC

Manchester United / England

Under Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Manchester United changed directions back to focusing on developing youth and signing promising talents for the future. The summer of 2019 saw 7 new promising talents enter the gates of Aon Training Complex including youngsters from France and Holland, who where wanted by bigger clubs.

Looking back on the history, Manchester United has really been a leading force when developing home grown talents. From the class of ’92 featuring the one with the most club appearances, Ryan Giggs, to current Premier League players Dwight McNeil and Marcus Rashford. Marcus Rashford put himself in the history books in January 2020 becoming the fourth-youngest player in history to make 200 appearances for Manchester United!

In Football Manager, Manchester United has the training and youth facilities to expect a wide range of newgens coming through the annual youth intake and if you manage to develop all the under-21 talents that’s currently coming through, the club is destined for restoring their glory.

Division: Premier League
Transfer Budget: €35Mill

Liefering / Austria

Division: 2.Liga
Transfer Budget: €1

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Talents

Jonas Krumrey – 25.11.2003 – GK
Samson Baidoo – 31.03.2004 – DC/DM
Elias Havel – 16.04.2003 – ST
Luka Reischl– 10.02.2004 – ST

Tottenham / England

Division: Premier League
Transfer Budget: €116.9Mill

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Talents

Pape Matar Sarr – 14.09.2002 – MC
Alfie Dorrington – 20.04.2005 – DC
Jamie Donley – 03.01.2005 – ST
Alfie Devine – 01.08.2004 – DM/M/AMC
Dane Scarlett – 05.08.2004 – MC (DM/AMC)

Barcelona / Spain

Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Pedro, Cesc Fabregas, Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets… I could have gone on and on. For 4 decades, hundreds of children from all over the world including local Spanish footballers have been inaugurated into the La Masia Academy. Over 40 players have reached the first team, and despite some criticism for purchasing foreign kids under the age of 16 and moving them from Africa or South America to Barcelona, the academy is run with a clear philosophy of educating the players not only as footballers but also as humans.

The players needs to get good grades in order to play matches for the Juvenile squads and follows a strict schedule to develop into future footballers.

This eye of a needle has both bare the fruits and become the curse for FC Barcelona. In recent years, after Josep Maria Bartomeu became the president, the club has moved further away from what brought success 10 years ago under the managerial tenure of Josep Guardiola which has forced many of the most promising talents of La Masia to seek first team opportunity else where. Perhaps this will all change under the new President , Jon Laporta, and Xavi coming back taking the managerial seat. We all know the FC Barcelona’s training and youth facilities can help the club become self-sustaining with world class players in the years to come as long as they dare to put faith in the youth.

Now it’s the time to find back to their roots … focusing their money and trust on the La Masia academy to get out of their financial crisis.

Division: La Liga
Transfer Budget: €1

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Talents

Alejandro Balde – 18.03.2003 – D/WB/M/AML
Ilias Akhomach – 16.04.2004 – M/AMRC/ST
Angel Alarcón – 15.05.2004 – M/AMRL/ST
Ansu Fati – 31.10.2002 – AMRL/ST
Gavi – 05.08.2004 – MC (DM/AMC)
Pedri – 25.11.2002 – MC/AMRLC

Club Brugge / Belgium

Division: Jupiler Pro
Transfer Budget: €10Mill

Cisse Sandra – 16.12.2003 – MC
Senne Lammens – 07.07.2002 – GK
Noah Mbamba – 05.01.2005 – DC
Charles de Ketelaere – 10.03.2001 – AMC/ST
Antonio Nusa – 17.04.2005 – M/AMRL

AS Roma / Italy

Outside A.C Milan and Internazionale there are few Italian clubs which has been as productive and who have served as many players to the top flights of the Italian football leagues as the Giallorossi academy. While Francesco Totti, Daniele De Rossi and Alessandro Florenzi are some of the most well-known players com through in recent years, the club has also developed National stars like Alberto Aquilani, Angelo Peruzzi, Bruno Conti, Claudio Ranieri and Angelo Di Livio. Matteo Politano, Luca Pellegrini, Alessio Romagnoli and Davide Frattesi are other players who has plyed their way through the ranks.

Division: Serie A
Transfer Budget: €12Mill

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Riccardo Pagano – 28.11.2004 – M/AMC
Tommaso Milanese – 31.07.2002 – M/AMC
Ebrima Darboe – 01.06.2001 – DM/MC
Matteo Cancellieri – 12.02.2002 – M/AMR/ST
Riccardo Calafiori – 19.05.2002 – D/WB/ML

Liverpool / England

Division: Premier League
Transfer Budget: €23.3Mill

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Melkamu Frauendorf – 12.01.2004 – AMRLC
James Balagizi – 20.09.2003 – MC/AMLC
Bobby Clark – 07.02.2005 – MC/AMRLC
Layton Stewart – 03.09.2002 – ST
Harvey Elliott – 04.04.2003 – MC/AMRLC

Manchester City / England

Manchester City’s new City Football Academy is one of the newest football academies in top football. Officially opened in 2014, the latest State of the Art training facility costed £200Mill according to Mirror. The billionaire owner, Sheikh Mansour, have invested heavily to make the club the best in the world. If we look at the clubs’ youth facilities and training facilities the club are on their way to put AFC Ajax, FC Barcelona and the Portuguese trio down from their throne, but quite not there yet. But this is something Pep Guardiola and his entrusted team of former Barcelona staff will revolutionize in the following years.

While the list of Manchester City graduates who have taken the world stage is currently minimal the reality for us Football Manager fans will be quite different in the following seasons. With state of the art youth facilities we can expect a range of promising talents and future wonderkids coming through the youth intake in the years to follow. For now, you are fortunate to get excited about tenth of promising talents, some highlighted below, who have the potential to take the Premier League with storm in the near future.

Here it’s important to mention that most of the best talents within their youth ranks have been bought after the age of 16 from clubs that are re-known for producing top talents as well (e.g. Paris SG and Barcelona). for the past seasons, Manchester City has also spend lots of effort picking up young talents with lots of potential within UK, such as Cole Palmer, Liam Delap and Samuel Edozie.

Division: Premier League
Transfer Budget: €116.9Mill

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

James McAtee – 18.10.2002 – M/AMC
Roméo Lavia – 06.01.2004 – DM/MC
Liam Delap – 08.02.2003 – ST
Cole Palmer – 06.05.2002 – MC/AMRLC
Kayky – 11.06.2003 – AMR

Benfica / Portugal

Sport Lisboa e Benfica is one of the clubs with a long and proud history in producing top class Portuguese players. The Benfica youth academy, also known as the Seixal after the region it is located, features a State of the Art Training facilities and has served Europe with a range of talents, while also leading the club to become the most successful club in Portugal with 83 trophies in their 117 year long history. They won the Portuguese league last time in 2018-19.

Current Bordeaux manager Paulo Sousa, Manchester City’s star Bernardo Silva and Lille’s Renato Sanches are some of the graduates of the Seixal academy, while former Ballon D’Or and two times European Golden Boot winner Eusebio stands out as their biggest star of all time. He too can also be described as a Benfica product since he entered the gates of Estádio da Luz at the age of 18. Other former talents who have been part of the youth academy of Benfica at some point are; Rui Costa, Angel di Maria, Andre Gomes and profilic striker Nuno Gomes.

The current Benfica squad’s average age has increased from 24 to 27 in the last two years and features more players of different nationalities. In some ways thay have gone away from giving Portuguese a clear pathway to the first team, but their youth ranks are filled with Portuguese talents with high potential.

Benfica’s training and youth facilities can only be described as phenomenal. With an exceptional youth recruitment and excellent junior coaching it has the best foundation for receiving a wealth of promising talents at the annual youth intake, while also being able to develop them into future world class players with state of the art youth facilities and a large pool of 5 star coaches and backroom staff in the likes of assistant manager João de Deus, head of youth development Pedro Mil Homens, manager Jorge Jesus and the coaches Minervino Pietra, Márcio Sampaio and Mário Monteiro.

Division: Liga Portugal
Transfer Budget: €5Mill

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Diogo Nascimento – 02.11.2002 – MC/AMLC
Guilherme Montóia – 14.09.2003 – D/WBL
Rafael Luis – 18.02.2005 – DM/MC
Hugo Félix – 03.03.2004 – M/AMC
André Gomes – 20.10.2004 – GK

Chelsea / England

A number of English legends has come through the Chelsea academy over the past 40 years. Even though the biggest legends are John Terry, Graeme Le Saux and Ian Pearce, Chelsea have served the Premier League with some great players in recent years. Declan Rice, Dominik Solanke, Eddie Nketiah and Domingos Quina are just a few players who have come through the academy.

The youth recruitment policy of Chelsea has both been applauded and criticized for the past years. Their focus on swooping up under-18 talents from around the globe has definitely raised some eyebrows. Even though the club received a transfer ban in May 2019 for transferring and registering overseas players under 18, the transfer ban is now lifted by FIFA.

Looking back of the past 5 years, Chelsea have had a large pool of players and been smart using their affiliate clubs and network to loan out their breakthrough players. Now it’s starting to bear fruits. Callum Hudson-Odoi, Andreas Christensen, Mason Mount, Fikayo Tomori and Reece James have all been loaned out and got necessary experience on an higher level than the reserve leagues. Future is definitely looking bright for Chelsea and their youth development program.

Division: Premier League
Transfer Budget: €46.7Mill

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Leo Castledine – 20.08.2005 – MC/AMRC
Charlie Webster – 31.01.2004 – MC
Jude Soonsup-Bell – 10.04.2004 – ST
Faustino Anjorin – 23.11.2001 – M/AMC
Billy Gilmour – 11.06.2001 – M/AMC