According to Research, Only 1 in 200 Youth Academy Players Make it to the First Team
This statistic was released a year and a half ago by former FA Head of Talent Identification, Richard Allen. He stated “only 0.5% of those signed by a professional club aged Under 9 will go all the way through to play in the club’s first-team.”
It’s due to damning statistics like this that more clubs are beginning to question the need for a youth academy. This is exactly what has happened at Championship side Brentford. In 2016 the club scrapped their youth academy set up in favour of just having a B team side. Rather than losing youth talent to bigger sides, they are now signing young players who haven’t quite made it at these so-called bigger teams, and are giving them an opportunity to prove themselves for their B team.
But Brentford aren’t the only side to see their youth players leave for bigger sides for a low compensation fee over the years. Below, we look at 4 current Premier League players who moved to a different side without making a first team appearance for their first club.
Nathan Ake
A Chelsea academy graduate, Ake moved to Bournemouth for just over £20 million last summer following an impressive 6 month loan spell the season before. However, Ake wasn’t a Chelsea academy product. Chelsea in fact signed Ake from Feyenoord’s Under 17 side for a fee rumoured to be around the £750 thousand mark. Ake had been at Feyenoord for 4 years before Chelsea swooped in for the 16-year-old.
Cesc Fabregas
Fabregas was signed as a 16-year-old by Arsenal from Barcelona for a fee that would later rise to £3 million. 303 appearances and 57 goals later, Fabregas would return to Barcelona, where he would stay for 3 seasons. Of course, Fabregas wasn’t the only player to favour a move away from La Masia to the Premier League, with academy teammate Gerard Pique joining Manchester United a year later. The move didn’t go as well for Pique, with the defender moving back to Barcelona not long after.
Paul Pogba
One of the most controversial youth academy transfers in recent times, Paul Pogba’s move from Le Havre to Manchester United was one which underwent investigation by FIFA. The French club accused Manchester United and Pogba of breaking an agreement he had with the club to sign a youth contract when of age. Despite this, FIFA concluded that no wrong doing occured. The final transfer agreement between the two clubs has since been left confidential.
Raheem Sterling
Before Trent Alexander-Arnold Liverpool had not had an academy player come through and nail down a first team place since Raheem Sterling. The current Manchester City man shone for Liverpool alongside Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge during the 2013/14 near title winning season. Liverpool were not Sterling’s first club though. After moving to London from Jamaica, Sterling was spotted by QPR scouts and spent 7 years at the club. Liverpool paid £600,000 for the academy starlet in 2010, a fee that has since raised due to add ons and his sell on clause.
