The International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) has released its annual ranking of the football academies that produce the most players for the top five European leagues. Surprisingly, Barcelona’s renowned La Masia does not hold the top spot.
CIES’s ranking considers various factors, including the number of “graduates” currently playing in the 49 top leagues worldwide, the levels of matches they participated in over the past year, the number of minutes played, and their ages—younger players score higher in this evaluation.
Leading the ranking is Benfica, with an index of 101.1 and 93 players in the top leagues, followed closely by River Plate at 95.9 with 94 players, and Boca Juniors at 91.7 with 93 players.
Real Madrid Academy Tops Player Production in Major Leagues
Surprisingly, Real Madrid’s academy ranks first in this hierarchy. Currently, 40 players nurtured by La Fabrica are competing in one of the top five leagues, four of whom are on the first team.
La Masia ranks second, with 34 graduates now registered in the top leagues, including eight who play for the first team under Hansi Flick.
Completing the top ten are Manchester City (29), Rennes (28), Ajax and PSG (27 each), Athletic Club (25), Chelsea (24), Atletico Madrid (23), and Real Sociedad (22).
Despite having a significant number of active players in the top leagues, Real Madrid’s index remains relatively low at 76.2.
The rating for La Fabrica is affected by the level at which the 67 players played in the past year, receiving a score of 0.854 (with the maximum being 0.948), and the average age of graduates, which stands at 27.4 years. However, the average number of minutes played by these players in the past year is 2,101.
Currently, 15 players developed by Athletic Club’s academy are on the first team, making it number one in that category.
