CIES Football Observatory’s latest study has revealed which European clubs train the most professional football players. The rankings include the best training clubs in Europe’s big-5 leagues and in 31 European top divisions.
A trained footballer a player who was registered for 3 seasons with the same club between their 15th and 21st birthday.
As for big-5 leagues players, Real Madrid has regained the top spot with a rather big margin. We currently have 39 players, whereas second-placed Barcelona. Lyon round up the top three with 30 players. have just 34.
Most productive training clubs for Europe’s big-5 league players, as of October 1, 2019 (by number of players):
- 39 Real Madrid ESP
- 34 FC Barcelona ESP
- 30 Olympique Lyonnais FRA
- 28 Manchester Utd ENG
- 24 Valencia CF ESP
- 23 Chelsea ENG
- 23 PSG FRA
- 23 Athletic Club ESP
- 22 Monaco FRA
- 22 Real Sociedad ESP
The 31 top divisions are, surprisingly, topped by Partizan Belgrade – 75 players trained. We are in 14th spot on this list as we have just 50 players.
Most productive training clubs for 31 European top division league players, as of October 1, 2019:
- 75 Partizan SRB
- 72 Ajax NED
- 63 Sporting CP POR
- 62 Dynamo Kyiv UKR
- 60 Dinamo Zagreb CRO
- 59 Crvena Zvezda SRB
- 56 Vojvodina SRB
- 56 Sparta Praha CZE
- 54 Shakhtar Donetsk UKR
- 52 FC Barcelona ESP
- 51 Benfica POR
- 51 PSV NED
- 51 Dinamo Minsk BLR
- 50 Real Madrid ESP
