The journey to the top of football has always started with humble beginnings for each and every footballer across the globe. From a very young age players spend time learning the skills and techniques that make them unique on the pitch.
But while many footballers would have first started playing on the streets, the influence of football academies was crucial in these players evolving into professionals.
Ajax and Barcelona's academies are well renowned
Many people know about Ajax and Barcelona's academies due to the sheer amount of quality talent they have produced over the years. The likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets have all graduated from La Masia. Meanwhile, the legendary Johan Cruyff, Clarence Seedorf and Wesley Sneijder have come out of Ajax's youth academy.
While both Ajax and Barcelona feature on this list, it is surprisingly another club that have overtaken them in the last few years.
So let's take a look at the top five football academies in the world right now:
#5 Paris Saint-Germain
The Paris Saint-Germain academy has always been strong, but in the last decade or so it has emerged as one of Europe's leading talent developers. This coincides with the emergence of a large number of talents in the Île-de-France region where Paris is located.
In many ways, the story of the Paris Saint-Germain Institute is the story of Île-de-France. It is a huge metropolis. In addition to the glitz and charm of parts of Paris, it is also home to a large number of socially disadvantaged groups from an immigrant background.
Just like South American players who developed their talents by playing street football, many of PSG's finest academy graduates have honed their skills by playing in residential areas in Île-de-France.
This has resulted in an good mix of PSG academy graduates, who have gone on to become superstars at various clubs across Europe. From lightning quick Moussa Diaby to creative Yacine Adli, the PSG academy has produced several talents. But it is Presnel Kimpembe who stands out. The defender has established himself as a regular in the first team unlike the others after graduating from the academy.
However, with the exception of Kimpembe, the club has largely struggled to integrate its finest products into the first team. Instead of giving their youth a chance, the club have brought in the likes of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe for enormous fees.
The likes of Adli, Diaby, Mike Maignan, Boubakary Soumare and Odsonne Edouard are just a few of the academy starlets who have left the club in the last decade.
#4 Benfica
One of the biggest clubs in Portugal, SL Benfica have produced a lot of quality players in the last few years.
Alongside FC Porto and Sporting, Benfica have achieved a lot of success in Portugal. Part of that success can be attributed to the quality of players who have graduated from their academy and succeeded for them.
The club has produced a number of academy stars that have started at Benfica and have gone on to become successful at various top clubs across the continent.
Their academy graduates include Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias, Ederson and Joao Cancelo, who are all now part of Manchester City's star-studded squad. Victor Lindelof at Manchester United, Joao Felix at Atletico Madrid, Goncalo Guedes at Valencia and Renato Sanches at Lille are some of the other prominent Benfica academy graduates.
Sporting Lisboa e Benfica Juniors also won the best academy award as recently as 2019, showing the lofty standards they have set for themselves.
#3 Ajax
The AFC Ajax Academy has always been the decisive aspect that distinguishes the iconic Amsterdam club from other great and historic football institutions in Europe.
Perhaps their most famous and truly game-changing academy product was Johan Cruyff, a legendary player who excelled in 1970s as part of an all-conquering Ajax side. He later went on to revolutionize the game as a coach at both Ajax and FC Barcelona.
Cruyff's vision for football, also known as 'total football', forms the basis of the Ajax academy. The system focuses on technical talent, fluid interchange of positions, quick passing and high pressing. As such, Ajax's academy players are almost always comfortable in possession and have strong technical skills as footballers.
The club also has a B team, Jong Ajax, which competes in the Dutch second division. This provides a strong bridge from the academy to senior football. Many current and former academy stars - Ryan Gravenberch, Matthijs de Ligt, Donny van de Beek and so many others - have all played significant minutes for the B team.
Other notable stars currently in Europe that have graduated from the Ajax academy include Sergino Dest, Anwar El Ghazi and Donyell Malen.
#2 FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona's La Masia academy is arguably the most well-known academy in world football.
A constant developer of talent for many generations now, the academy earned global recognition in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Under the guidance of Pep Guardiola, several academy stars were promoted to the team as Barcelona won several trophies during that time. In addition to that, Spain's national team won two European championships and one World Cup with several La Masia graduates in the team.
That Barcelona team had a majority of players coming from La Masia. The likes of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Carles Puyol, Pedro, Victor Valdes, Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets formed one of the greatest footballing sides of all time.
La Masia graduates also found success in other countries, especially England. The likes of Hector Bellerin, Cesc Fabregas, Pique and more recently Eric Garcia and Adama Traore have launched their careers in the Premier League. Some of them even returned to Barcelona later.
With Barcelona struggling due to financial conditions, the club has once again turned towards its academy to pave the way forward. The likes of Ansu Fati, Riqui Puig and Oscar Mingueza have all broken into the first team.
Barcelona will be hoping that the new generation of La Masia graduates can help guide them out of the crisis the club currently find themselves in.
#1 Chelsea
Chelsea's Cobham academy is among the very best in world football and in fact has a strong claim to being the best at present.
The Surrey-based academy has dominated under-age football for the last decade, in England and beyond. They’ve appeared in nine FA Youth Cup finals since 2010, winning seven of them. No club has won more UEFA Youth League titles than they have, having triumphed in back-to-back seasons between 2014 and 2016.
With the funding of Roman Abramovich, Chelsea invested a lot of money in the youth team program and achieved great success.
Cobham graduates are usually well-rounded players. This allows them to enter senior football as a youngster, whether it be League Two, the Championship or a smaller European league.
Over the years, Chelsea’s loan policy has been criticized, but it has always provided young professional players with a valuable opportunity to develop in a highly competitive environment. Ultimately, it helps develop careers and is also a significant revenue generator for the club.
A more legitimate criticism would be the lack of pathway for academy players into the first-team. Over the years, homegrown players were restricted to limited involvement and were constantly shunned for big-money additions.
That changed in 2019, when a transfer ban forced the club to lean heavily on academy players under the guidance of club legend Frank Lampard. He introduced Tammy Abraham, Mason Mount, Reece James and Fikayo Tomori into the first-team set-up, aligning the senior side with the exceptional academy for the very first time.
The likes of Abraham and Tomori have left the club after falling out of favor. However, both of them have become key members of their new team. Other academy talents like Tariq Lamptey, Tino Livramento and Marc Guehi have also become first-team regulars at other Premier League clubs.
This is a 22-man squad filled up with current/former Chelsea players who have all been with the Chelsea academy, most of them having been here since the ages of 6-8.
The worst part is, there are still so many unbelievably talented players who are not even mentioned.
With so many academy players starring in the first-team and across Europe, the Cobham academy is arguably the best in football right now.