By David Gold
September 14 – The number of players being fielded by the clubs they trained with in Europe has increased for the second year in a row, according to the Annual Review of the European Football Players’ Labour Market.
The 2011 review, compiled with the assistance of football statistics service Opta, shows that 22 per cent of players were selected by the teams they were trained with at youth level in club squads across Europe, a figure which drops to 16 per cent when only players who were selected in starting XIs were taken into account.
The trend for club-trained players to be picked is in small part thanks to regulations in some leagues which require top-flight teams to select squads that have a quota for players trained either at their club or in the country.
In the Premier League, a new rule means that a minimum of eight home grown players must be selected in 25 man squads which must be submitted at the start of each season, whilst UEFA regulations require European squads to include at least four players trained by the club itself.
French teams field the greatest number of club-trained players in their match day squads, while Spain has the largest number of such players in first teams.
It was also found that there was a correlation between teams who field players trained at the club and their success, with Spanish and European champions Barcelona the best example of this trend.
Barcelona’s first team regularly features a number of players who were trained by the club from primary school or early secondary school age, including Victor Valdes, Gerard Pique, Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi and Pedro.
They have also recently re-signed Cesc Fàbregas (pictured), who was with the club from the age of 10, and club captain Carles Puyol, who moved to the Catalan outfit at the age of 17.
Their figure of an average of 5.7 club-trained players in their first team was second only to fellow La Liga side Athletic Bilbao, who have a club policy of only signing Basque players, thus restricting the market from which they can recruit.
The Premier League boasts the highest number of foreign players of all the European leagues, with the figure above 50 per cent for both match day squads and first teams.
Arsenal fielded the largest number of foreigners in Europe, though ironically the club trained a large number of these players during their formative years.
Brazil remains the main market for European clubs to sign players from, but the number of Brazilian nationals playing in Europe has dropped markedly in recent years.
This is mainly due to the strength of the currency in Brazil, as its clubs are able to keep their young stars for longer, as Santos have proven with Neymar and Paulo Henrique Ganso, who are both wanted by big European teams.
It also enables Brazilian clubs to pay larger wages to big name players looking to return to Brazil, such as Ronaldinho, who signed for Flamengo last summer.
The report also seems to bear out the benefits of stability, with Premier League champions Manchester United’s players having been at the club for longer on average than any other side in Europe.
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