Top 5 Youth Academies in World Football: Which Academies Have Produced Success

Football has been gaining a reputation as being a sport in which money can buy success.  However a solid component of any successful team is a youth system that produces homegrown talent.  With new financial rulings being implemented by UEFA, the reliance on a good youth system will become bigger by clubs throughout Europe.  In this slideshow I have highlighted 5 youth systems throughout the world who have recently had success at producing players.

The Real Madrid academy has been quite successful in recent years.  Former Youth players Raul and Guti just left the club this past year and represented the core of Real Madrid for almost a decade.  Current captain Iker Casillas is a former youth player and is considered to be the best goalkeeper in World football by many pundits.  The youth academy has also produced solid La Liga players in the form of Alvaro Arbeloa, who currently plays for the club, and Roberto Soldado, who plays for rivals Valencia.  Many pundits thought that the Los Galacticos strategy would strangle youth production due to the heavy influx of super star players.  However the youth academy wasn’t affected and continues to produce good players.

Although many have desired more from the Liverpool academy in recent years, they still possess a quality youth program.  Current stalwarts in the side Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher are well regarded in the premier League.  Steven Gerrard is one of the best central midfield players in the past decade and is a homegrown player.  On a recent trip through Huyton, Gerrard’s neighborhood, I was able to witness where some of that fire comes from.  Michael Owen is a former youth player and scored goals for fun until he was hampered by injuries.  Robbie Fowler, currently playing in Australia, was hailed as god for his exploits in a red shirt.  The youth academy has a few youngsters currently on the fringe of the first XI after changes have been introduced to the system in recent years.

Ajax has always been renowned for having a brilliant youth academy, Cruyff, Rijkaard, Seedorf, Van Der Sar are all names that have graced the youth academy in the past.  However the current crop of young players plying their trade in Europe is vast.  Wesley Sneijder, a former youth player, was in terrific form last season and many thought he deserved the player of the year award.  Rafael Van Der Vaart and Nigel De Jong both ply their trade in the Premier League and were former youth players.  Gregory Van Der Wiel is currently in the first team at Ajax and many regard him as an emerging talent in Europe.

The Brazilian powerhouse has been renowned for producing top quality youth products for decades.  Pele was the face of the franchise for years due to the fact that not only was he the best player in the world but he was also homegrown.  In current times there is a wealth of Santos talent across Europe.  Diego wasn’t quite a hit in Turin but he is a solid player that is coming back to his best in the bundesliga.  Robinho has been a super star since he arrived at Real Madrid and is currently top of the table in Italy with A.C. Milan.  Ganso and Neymar are two super stars in the making who are still at the Brazilian club.  Neymar was rumored to be the subject of a 25 million GBP  bid from Chelsea this summer.

There is no doubt that Barcelona has one of the best Youth system’s in all of world football. Their current first XI is considered to be one of the best in all of world football and is built on the back of former Youth player’s.  Their goalkeeper, Victor Valdes, two centre backs, Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique, central midfielders, Andres Iniesta, Xavi and Sergio Busquets, and Forward Lionel Messi were all a part of the youth system.  Messi was imported from Argentina while all the other players are Spanish.  Many pundits believe that the reason the Current side is so successful is due to the fact that they have been playing the same type of football together for so many years.  Furthermore with players like Pedro and Jeffren in the wings, the future at FC Barcelona looks very bright.