The best football academies: 5 places where million-dollar talents are born

In recent years, the number of football academies has been increasing worldwide. For founders, they represent an interesting investment opportunity, and for players and their families, they offer hope of becoming the next Maradona or Messi. However, the most popular are established youth academies with a long tradition that operate at elite clubs around the world. What are the most famous ones?

Ajax Academy

The Amsterdam club may no longer be among the top 10 in the world, but the fame of its youth academy is hard to surpass. On the contrary, Ajax Academy has existed since the early 20th century and since 2010, it has been considered the best place for developing new talents. However, the admission conditions are very strict, and priority is given to Dutch players, which is why you find so many of themamong the graduates. One of them wasJohan Cruyff, one of the most famous footballers of the 70s.

Overall, the academy has a capacity of about 200 students, and scouts look for the best talents as early as age 6. During training, the focus is mainly on complexity and the support that often the whole family of young footballers can find in Amsterdam,

La Masia

Another alma mater of football is the famous Spanish academy La Masia, founded in Barcelona in 1979. And it was none other than former Ajax graduate and player Johan Cruyff who helped build it. His goal was to replicate the training methods of his home club, which relied on its own talents instead of buying players.

In the 2012 season, it actually happened that all 11 players on the field for Barcelona came from the same academy. Three of them even becamefinalists in the prestigious Golden Ball and specifically, they wereXavi, Andrés Iniesta, and the famous Lionel Messi, who is known even outside the football world. Thus, La Masia received recognition from FIFA and ranked among the best youth football academies in the world.

Bayern Munich

The German club is not afraid to recruit talented players from its competitors, but also has its own award-winning academy. At least in the youth category, it does not have to rely on the transfer market. The club was founded back in 1902, but its football academy has celebrated its greatest successes only in recent decades, during which it has produced stars like Thomas Muller and Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Investments in the development of the academy amount to tens of millions, and its annual budget is three million euros. Thanks to this, it can offer places for up to 180 footballers, with about 40 staff members working with them. All young talents have a chance, though. The academy organizes an event every year where up to 500 children aged 6 to 11 can apply. A panel of experts then selects the seven best ones.

Manchester United

England also has its best football academy, which has already achieved numerous successes. It belongs to the well-known club Manchester United and its training complex is located in the Carrington district, where it hides from the eyes of scouts from rival clubs behind a two-meter-high fence. This strategy clearly works because among its most famous graduates is none other than David Beckham.

Currently, young footballers from the age of 8 can apply for enrollment and those who succeed attend one of the best football academies until they are 18 years old. They compete in world youth competitions and have already managed to win the cup several times. This attracts more and more spectators and new talents.

Sporting Lisbon Academy