MADRID, 22 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Athletic Club is the team of the five major European leagues that has given the highest percentage of minutes (68.9%) to players trained in the club’s youth system in this first third of the current season, according to a report published by the Observatory of CIES Football.
The report ranks teams in 60 leagues around the world based on the percentage of domestic league minutes played by players trained at those same clubs during the current season. The ‘lions’ top the list with almost 70%, followed by the French Olympique de Lyon (45.6%) and Real Sociedad (45.4%).
For its part, Real Madrid is in fourth position (36.3%), in a classification in which FC Barcelona also appears in ninth place (29.1%) and Atlético de Madrid, sixteenth with a 21.3% of minutes for their youth players.
The highest values in the English Premier League were measured by Arsenal (22.1%), Manchester United (20.4%) and Chelsea (19.8%), while the teams with the greatest confidence in the lower categories in the Serie The Italian and German Bundesliga are Atalanta BC (18.7%) and SC Freiburg (34.5%), respectively.
According to the report, club-trained players are those who spent at least three years between the ages of 15 and 21 at their club of employment (seasons when they turned 15 and 21 included).