Which Premier League clubs are fielding the most young players this season?

Man City 3

We are now in the middle of the new Premier League season, which means that most clubs in England’s top flight have finalized their squads. While the division is known for spending huge sums on importing players from abroad or buying them for the English Championship, some of England’s biggest clubs still pride themselves on developing young players and promoting them into their first team. And, perhaps to the surprise of some football fans, many Premier League giants have turned to their younger players this season to fill the gaps in their squads.

Which Premier League clubs have used the most academy players so far this season?

To the delight of Liverpool fans around the world, new Anfield coach Arne Slot has hit the ground running, quickly leading the Reds to the top of the Premier League table with 18 points from the first seven games. As if that wasn’t impressive enough, Slot has also turned his attention to a number of players who have come through the club’s youth academy in one form or another. So much so that after just seven games, Slot has played against no fewer than eight players from Liverpool’s youth teams. The most famous of these is undoubtedly Trent Alexander-Arnold, followed by regular first-team players such as Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott and Jarell Quansah. Only one other team in the top English league has fielded as many former youth players as Liverpool this season.

Surprisingly, it is none other than historic rivals Manchester United. Although Erik Ten Hag is struggling in his third season at Old Trafford, the Man Utd manager cannot be blamed for ignoring the young players in his team. While Ten Hag relies on typical senior players such as Marcus Rashford and Jonny Evans, both of whom came through Man Utd’s academy, he has also done well to give serious playing time to young talents such as Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo. The number of the club’s eight former youth players who have featured in the first team this season is significantly higher than rivals Manchester City, who only have five young players in their squad so far this season. And far more than Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and Aston Villa, who all currently have three former academy graduates in their squad.

Unsurprisingly, there are a number of clubs at the bottom of the table who have not only experienced huge turnover in their squads in recent years, but are also under enormous pressure to deliver results each season and face the very real threat of To avoid relegation. That’s perhaps why Fulham (Ryan Sessegnon), Wolves (Luke Cundle) and West Ham (Kaelan Casey) only have one former academy player in their respective squads, with the latter two having only made a handful of appearances in total so far this season . However, only one club in the division has yet to play against a single academy graduate this season and that happens to be Brentford. Which should come as no surprise to the club’s fans, as they have certainly become accustomed to the Bees remaining exceptionally busy in each transfer window, often relying on clever signings from their own youth academy.

Who are the most valuable youth academy graduates this season?

It’s no big surprise that the Premier League’s top clubs top the list of most valuable young players still playing for their original club. First and foremost is none other than Manchester City playmaker Phil Foden, whose market value is currently a whopping 150 million euros. He narrowly beats Arsenal star Bukayo Saka, who has to settle for second place despite an almost equally impressive market value of 140 million euros. Both are then joined by the aforementioned Alexander-Arnold, Rashford and Mainoo to make up the top five. Be sure to look through the gallery above to see the full list of the Premier League’s 15 most valuable academy graduates this season.