Which Premier League clubs played the most former youth academy players this season?

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Man Utd 2nd 

The Premier League season is finally over and while fans take in the last 10 months of football and consider whether their clubs improved or went backwards, it’s worth considering which players came through at each club and really shined. Although the English top-flight is well known for typically buying the best players from around Europe, that doesn’t mean young stars can’t get promoted from their youth academies and go on to shine for their boyhood clubs. And this season’s league has highlighted a number of young stars that have become pivotal to their team’s success. 

Which clubs played the most former academy players in the Premier League this season?

Although Liverpool ultimately fell short of challenging for the league title in Jürgen Klopp’s final season at the club, the Anfield club did lead the way when it came to playing young players from their academy. No less than 10 players in Klopp’s first team squad for this season played at least one game for the club’s U17 squad, with some notable stars like Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliot and Jarell Quansah proving to be pivotal players throughout the season. No other club could match Liverpool this season when it came to playing graduates from their youth academy.

Despite failing to challenge for the top four, Manchester United came in second among all other English top-flight clubs when it came to playing their young stars. Erik Ten Hag spent much of the league campaign lamenting injuries to his first team squad, so it’s no surprise that he featured no less than seven academy players in his squad this time around. Although this featured household names like Marcus Rashford, Scott McTominay and Jonny Evans, the rise of stars like Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo undoubtedly continues the Old Trafford club’s long tradition of promoting youth players into their first team. 

Who are the most valuable former youth academy players in the Premier League?

There are certainly a number of impressive young players in the English top-flight that have made the step up to first team football, but fans of the Premier League may be surprised to learn that some of the division’s biggest stars are indeed former youth academy players that still play for their original club. For example, both Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka not only hold the title for second most valuable players in the league with market values of €130 million each, but both players are also still at the club’s that trained them as young players. Equally, alongside the aforementioned Rashford and Alexander-Arnold, Brighton can lay claim to one of the league’s most valuable youth academy products in striker Evan Ferguson (€60m), while Chelsea have three outstanding academy players in their first team squad in Reece James (€50m), Levi Colwil (€50m) and Conor Gallagher (€48m).