Most academy graduates
Football fans love nothing more than seeing a teenage prospect advance through their side’s youth ranks and make his first team debut, even if many such talents ultimately fail to break though and secure a regular spot in the side.
Using Transfermarkt data collated by CV-Library, we reveal the 10 clubs with the most academy graduates currently playing for any team in the Premier League. Only players who have represented their current employers in the top flight are eligible, while those out on loan have been excluded.
10. Leeds (7)
Leeds have been absent from the top flight since 2003/04, but they’ve still managed to produce several Premier League-quality players in the intervening years. Fabian Delph (Manchester City), James Milner (Liverpool) and Danny Rose (Tottenham) came through the ranks at Elland Road, before going on to represent clubs challenging for silverware at the highest level.
Elsewhere in the division, West Ham full-back Sam Byram, Burnley winger Aaron Lennon, Bournemouth midfielder Lewis Cook and Everton defender Luke Garbutt all began their careers at Leeds.
8= West Ham (8)
Two of the Premier League’s longest-serving players, Michael Carrick (Manchester United) and Mark Noble (West Ham), are products of the Hammers’ youth academy; at the other end of their careers are Reece Oxford and Declan Rice, who have played a combined 21 games for the east Londoners in the top tier.
James Tomkins (Crystal Palace) spent eight seasons as a regular in the West Ham senior side, and Junior Stanislas (Bournemouth) pulled on the club’s shirt 32 times in the Premier League before departing in 2012. Leon Britton (Swansea) and Glen Johnson (Stoke) also progressed from the capital club’s academy back in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
8= Crystal Palace (8)
Chelsea’s Victor Moses and Liverpool’s Nathaniel Clyne were once team-mates at Crystal Palace after graduating from the south London club’s youth setup in 2007 and 2008 respectively. Wilfried Zaha came off the production line at the turn of the decade, with young wingers Levi Lumeka and Sullay Kaikai hoping to follow in the Ivorian’s footsteps by nailing down a place in the first team in the coming years.
Elsewhere, Ben Watson (Watford) and Wayne Routledge (Swansea) both helped Palace earn promotion to the Premier League in 2003/04, but Lewis Grabban (Bournemouth) only played 10 league games for his first club.
7. Man City (9)
After starring in England Under-17s’ World Cup triumph in 2017, Phil Foden – nicknamed the “Stockport Iniesta” – was handed his Premier League debut by Pep Guardiola in Manchester City’s 4-1 thrashing of Tottenham. The attacking midfielder joined Brahim Diaz in appearing for the club’s first team after progressing through the youth ranks in the Abu Dhabi era.
Kelechi Iheanacho (Leicester), Stephen Ireland (Stoke), Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester), Kieran Trippier (Tottenham), Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool), Ben Mee (Burnley) and Loris Karius (Liverpool) are other Premier League players who started out at City before seeking pastures new.
4= Tottenham (10)
No one expected Harry Kane to develop into one of the world’s best centre-forwards when he was on loan at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich and Leicester, but the England international – who first joined Spurs as an 11-year-old back in 2004 – is now undoubtedly one of the Premier League’s standout players.
Kyle Walker-Peters and Harry Winks have followed Kane’s path from academy to first team, but Adam Smith (Bournemouth), Tom Carroll (Swansea), Andros Townsend (Crystal Palace), Jake Livermore (West Brom), Charlie Daniels (Bournemouth), Peter Crouch (Stoke) and Dean Marney (Burnley) are all now based at other top-flight clubs after varying degrees of success at White Hart Lane.
4= Arsenal (10)
Ainsley Maitland-Niles has demonstrated a maturity belying his tender years after breaking into Arsenal’s first-team setup in 2017/18, with his performances even more impressive when you consider the youngster has been playing out of position at left-back.
Reiss Nelson has also played for the Gunners in the Premier League and will now be aiming to follow the lead of Maitland-Niles, Jack Wilshere, Hector Bellerin and Alex Iwobi by nailing down a place in Arsene Wenger’s matchday squad.
Chuba Akpom is still at the Emirates after graduating from the academy in 2013, but Isaac Hayden (Newcastle), Benik Afobe (Bournemouth), Kieran Gibbs (West Brom) and Kyle Bartley (Swansea) are now plying their trade at other Premier League outfits.
4= Liverpool (10)
Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Robbie Fowler, Steve McManaman and Michael Owen all went on play for England after coming through the Liverpool academy, which is something 19-year-old defender Trent Alexander-Arnold will hope to do in the next couple of years.
Raheem Sterling made the breakthrough at Anfield in 2012 and is now well on the way to earning his first Premier League winner’s medal at Manchester City; fellow winger Jordon Ibe has more modest objectives at Bournemouth, but he too has established himself in the top flight.
Jon Flanagan, Ben Woodburn and Ovie Ejaria have all represented Liverpool in the Premier League, but Jerome Sinclair (Watford), Martin Kelly (Crystal Palace), Brad Smith (Bournemouth) and Tom Ince (Huddersfield) are now playing their football away from Merseyside.
2= Chelsea (12)
Chelsea have received plenty of criticism for their tendency to stockpile young players without giving them a chance in the first team, but their academy has at least produced several stars with the requisite ability to play in the Premier League.
Nathan Ake (Bournemouth), Dominic Solanke (Liverpool) and Nathaniel Chalobah (Watford) all departed west London in summer 2017, while Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Kasey Palmer and Tammy Abraham are currently on loan at Crystal Palace, Huddersfield and Swansea respectively.
Robert Huth (Leicester), Patrick van Aanholt (Palace), Jack Cork (Burnley) and Ryan Bertrand (Southampton) are other Chelsea alumni now based elsewhere, but fellow defender Andreas Christensen has successfully broken into the starting XI at Stamford Bridge and Charly Musonda is on the fringes of Antonio Conte’s squad.
2= Southampton (12)
Southampton’s academy has been one of the Premier League’s most productive in the last few years, with Josh Sims, Jake Hesketh, Sam McQueen and James Ward-Prowse all part of the first-team picture at St Mary’s in 2017/18.
Luke Shaw (Manchester United), Adam Lallana (Liverpool) and Calum Chambers (Arsenal) joined members of the big six in summer 2014 after progressing through the south coast side’s youth ranks, just as Theo Walcott (Everton) and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Liverpool) had done in signing for Arsenal a few years previously.
Swansea winger Nathan Dyer, Huddersfield defender Martin Cranie and Bournemouth midfielder Andrew Surman are also graduates of the Southampton academy.
1. Man United (22)
With a remarkable 22 alumni currently playing Premier League football, Manchester United top this ranking at a canter. Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard, Angel Gomes, Scott McTominay, Joel Pereira and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson have represented the Red Devils in the first division and are still at Old Trafford, while Tim Fosu-Mensah is currently out on loan at Crystal Palace.
Paul Pogba is another academy graduate currently playing for United in the Premier League, albeit after a four-season spell with Juventus. Elsewhere, Danny Welbeck (Arsenal), Michael Keane (Everton), Matty James (Leicester), Phil Bardsley (Burnley), Tom Cleverley (Watford), Robbie Brady (Burnley), Danny Drinkwater (Chelsea), Craig Cathcart (Watford), Jonny Evans (West Brom), Ryan Shawcross (Stoke), Tom Heaton (Burnley), Darren Fletcher (Stoke), Danny Simpson (Leicester) and Josh King (Bournemouth) are also products of the club’s fabled youth system.
