Best Youth Academies | Football Manager 2019

Ranking Football Manager 2019 BEST YOUTH ACADEMIES

Welcome to this years ranking of the best youth academy clubs in Football Manager 2019. Here we let you discover the top 140 clubs with the best youth training facilities, junior coaching and youth recruitment, their transfer budget and most promising talents.

Our ranking of the best youth academies in Football Manager 2019 lets you find the perfect club for a youth development challenge. It lets you easily discover which clubs with perfect foundation to get the best newgens as possible at the annual youth intake.

The ranking will also show you the clubs with the best foundation to fulfill the potential of their best young talents, as we’ve incorporated each club’s level of training facilities.

Get the ultimate recommendation for clubs to manage in Football Manager 2019 and start a youth development challenge with focus on home grown players.

Background Story

It’s only six years ago the historic moment happened. FC Barcelona fielded an entire line-up of home-grown players. All 11 players graduated from the La Masia youth academy. 7 of them played in the final of the 2010 FIFA World Cup against Holland in South Africa. It was one of the best clubs in the world. A Spanish club with merely Spanish players… or at least players who had lived in the country since the start of their teenage years. Never had a club fielded all home-grown players.

It was one of the odd, but historic moments of football.

I’m not sure if it has happened in professional football in the years that has past, but it was highly remarkable. It was a result of the clubs trust in their own youth academy, La Masia. A result of an overall football philosophy which run throughout the club – all the way down to the youngest age groups. It was the perfect youth academy – the best. Apart from long-term success it offered the club stability. All players were integrated into the same ethos, the same football philosophy and playing style.

For long the La Masia youth academy could be labelled as the best in the world, but much has changed since then. The amount of home grown players in the starting line-up at Barcelona has steadily decreased each season that has past since Pep Guardiola’s departure. The best talents of La Masia have left before turning 16 and being able to sign a professional contract.

In Europe, multi-millionaires have also entered the footballing world willing to spend billions investing in their club. We have new clubs who have taken after FC Barcelona and (re-)discovered the benefits of a strong youth development program. One reason is their ineligibility to follow the rapid rising transfer fees.

The rising power of the best football clubs is changing as we speak, and the gap between the best clubs and the mid-table clubs is rapidly increasing. For clubs with less funds, the future aim must be to invest in their facilities and youth. For that reason, we decided to investigate which clubs in Football Manager 2019 got the best youth academy and training facilities. It could be the ultimate goal for your save to field a full XI of home grown players.

About Passion4FM’s Ranking of Best Youth Academies

Passion4FM’s ranking of best youth academy clubs in Football Manager 2019 is created with the help of the FM19 database [19.1.1]. Here we have sorted by clubs’ level of youth facilities, junior coaching and youth recruitment and used the knowledge of each nations game importance and youth rating and the list of best coaches in Football Manager 2019 to provide you with a list of the top 140 Football Manager 2019 clubs with best training facilities.

The four training facilities that’s showed influences on the set current ability (CA) and potential ability (PA) level at the annual youth intake and the future progression of the CA / PA level, which gives you a hint of how well players you may receive from the annual youth intake and how good they may become in the future with a great development program put on the players.

The rankings of best youth academies for Football Manager 2019 is a bit difference than previous versions. This year we’ve sorted primarily by ‘Youth Facilities’ then secondary by ‘Junior Coaching’ and ‘Youth Recruitment’. If two clubs have similar facility levels, then ‘Training facilities’ come into play. We have also decreased the focus on game importance and youth rankings a bit. The youth rating will influence on the amount of players with an average higher CA or PA level. This means that a nation with lower game importance and youth rating within this list will be de-ranked despite the youth facility or junior coaching can be higher for the specific club.

While this list is highly unofficial we have tried our best to give you as perfect picture of the FM19 database and how well the clubs will be at generating youth from the annual youth intakes for the future. For certain clubs we have based this ranking on their level of youth facility and junior coaching compared to the level of youth recruitment. For the top 10 clubs with State of the Art training facilities and top youth training facilities we have used the coaching teams star rating and level of expertise as a factor of determining how well they will develop their best young talents to determine their success rate to fulfill players potential.

As you will discover, the list of best youth academies, which is based upon the Football Manager 2019 database will perhaps give you some surprises. But in fact, the current training facility levels described below is what the current version of the database tells us.
We have deliberately not included academy clubs that’s unplayable (see honorable mentions in the bottom of the article) and some clubs in Asia that either plays in the lower leagues or are not playable without a database extension.

We hope you will enjoy it.

Please use the comment field if you have something on your heart regarding the ranking of FM19 clubs with best training facilities.

TOP 140 Best Youth Academies in Football Manager 2019

140. Rosenborg (Norway)

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Erik Botheim – 10.01.2000 – ST – Deep Lying Playmaker – Est. Value €22.5K
Emil Ceide – 03.09.2001 – M/AMRL – Inside Forward – Est. Value €550
Andreas Helmersen – 15.03.1998 – ST – Poacher – Est. Value €550 (On loan at Ranheim)
Malte Amundsen – 11.02.1998 – D/WB/ML – Wing-Back – Est. Value €65K (On loan at Braunschweig)
Igoh Ogbu – 08.02.2000 – DC/DM – Wing-Back – Est. Value €22.5K

Transfer Budget: N/A

139. EGB (Peru)

138. Csikszereda (Romania)

137. Golfito (Costa Rica)

136. EGB (Peru)

135. Belenenses (Portugal)

134. SMS Łódź (Poland)

133. Mouscron (Belgium)

Transfer Budget: €1

132. Saprissa (Costa Rica)

Transfer Budget: €256K

131. Charleroi (Belgium)

Transfer Budget: €1

130. U.S. Città di Palermo (Italy)

Transfer Budget: €1.5Mill

129. FC Utrecht (Holland)

Transfer Budget: €2Mill

128. Viktoria Plzen (Czech Rep.)

Transfer Budget: €2.3Mill

127. Boavista (Portugal)

Boavista Futebol Clube is one of the oldest clubs in Portugal and forms a bitter rivalry with Porto as they both comes from the same city. Nicknamed the ‘Os Axadrezados’, they have regularly produced players of international standard, from the late 70s to the early 90s with players like Nuno Gomes (who have scored 29 goals in 79 appearances for the Portuguese National team), Raúl Meireles, João Pinto, Petit and Bosingwa, to name some of the most established ones, moving through the ranks from the youth departments of Boavista.

In FM19, Boavista features a highly experienced squad with most players above the age of 23. I’d like you to set focus on four promising talents within their youth teams, who may develop into future Portuguese national team players or even an international star similar to the most notable former academy players.

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Gonçalo Cardoso – 21.10.2000 – DC – Central Defender – Est. Value €67K
Mauro Oliveira – 27.01.2001 – M/AMC – Attacking Midfielder – Est. Value €550
Guilherme Silva – 10.05.2000 – D/WBR – Fullback – Est. Value €475
Gustavo Rocha – 02.03.2001 – ST – Poacher – Est. Value €550

Boavista is a really interesting club for a youth development challenge. Competing with Porto to produce the most players to the national team if we advance 5 to 10 years into the future could be a task you should set for you.

Transfer Budget: €100K

126. FC Nantes (France)

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Batista Mendy – 12.01.2000 – DC (DM) – Central Defender – Est. Value €215K
Abdoulaye Dabo – 04.03.2001 – DM/MC – Central Midfielder – Est. Value €230K
Elie Youan – 07.04.1999 – ST – Advanced Forward – Est. Value €180K
Randal Kolo – 05.12.1998 – ST – Poacher – Est. Value €180K
Mohamed Bangoura – 20.04.2002 – ST (AMC) – Advanced Forward – Est. Value €75K

Transfer Budget: €5Mill

125. FC Twente (Holland)

124. SuperSport Utd (South Africa)

Transfer Budget: €538K

123. RCD Espanyol (Spain)

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Óscar Melendo – 23.08.1997 – MRC/AMR – Advanced Playmaker – Est. Value €2.4Mill
Pol Lozano – 06.10.1999 – MC/DM – Central Midfielder – Est. Value €275K
Alejandro Pérez – 07.01.2001 – DC (DM) – Central Defender – Est. Value €37K
Pipa – 26.01.1998 – D/WBR – Wing-Back – Est. Value €275K

Transfer Budget: €5Mill

122. Hamilton (Scotland)

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Ronan Hughes – 15.12.1998 – MR – Winger – Est. Value €14.75K (On loan to Stirling)
Aaron Smith – 24.03.1998 – AMC/ST – Attacking Midfielder – Est. Value €10.5K
Scott Martin – 01.04.1997 – MC – Box to Box Midfielder – Est. Value €19.5K

Transfer Budget: €55K

121. Sparta Rotterdam (Holland)

Transfer Budget: €75K

120. Zeljeznicar Sport (Bosnia & Hercegovina)

119. Hibernian (Scotland)

118. Kalmar FF (Sweden)

Transfer Budget: €234K

117. Central Coast Mariners (Australia)

Transfer Budget: €119K

116. West Brom (England)

Transfer Budget: €11.1Mill

115. Zulte Waregem (Belgium)

Transfer Budget: €1

114. Banik Ostrava (Czech Rep.)

Transfer Budget: €875K

113. Toulouse FC (France)

Transfer Budget: €3.5Mill

112. Valencia CF (Spain)

Transfer Budget: 15Mill

111. BK Häcken (Sweden)

Transfer Budget: €468K

110. IFK Norrköping (Sweden)

Transfer Budget: €844K

109. Once de Abril (Costa Rica)

108. Libertad (Paraguay)

Transfer Budget: €2.28Mill

107. C Olimpia (Paraguay)

Transfer Budget: €2.8Mill

106. sc Heerenveen (Holland)

Transfer Budget: €3Mill

105. Aberdeen (Scotland)

Transfer Budget: €445K

104. El Nacional (Ecuador)

103. ES Sahel (Tunisia)

Transfer Budget: €621K

102. ES Tunis (Tunisia)

Transfer Budget: €621K

101. Seoul (South Korea)

Transfer Budget: €3.1Mill

100. Tokyo Metro Feliz (Japan)

99. Kyoto Mantis (Japan)

Transfer Budget: €1.8Mill

98. KGHM Zagłębie Lubin (Poland)

Transfer Budget: €519K

97. Villarreal (Spain)

Transfer Budget: €15Mill

96. Vojvodina Novi Sad (Serbia)

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Aleksandar Mesarovic – 27.09.1998 – AMC (AMRL) – Shadow Striker – Est. Value €350K
Nemanja Milojevic – 23.02.1998 – MC – Advanced Playmaker – Est. Value €210K
Ranko Veselinovic – 24.03.1999 – DC (DM) – Central Defender – Est. Value €185K
Mihajlo Neskovic – 09.02.2000 – AMC (AMRL) – Advanced Playmaker – Est. Value €140K

Transfer Budget: €309K

95. FC Zürich (Switzerland)

Transfer Budget: €2.7Mill

94. Sevilla (Spain)

Transfer Budget: €5Mill

93. Atlético Madrid (Spain)

Transfer Budget: N/A

92. Vålerenga (Norway)

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Chidera Ejuke – 02.01.1998 – AMRL – Inside Forward – Est. Value €7.5K
Felix Horn Myhre – 04.03.1999 – DM/MC – Defensive Midfielder – Est. Value €525
Peter Godly Michael – 02.01.1998 – ST – Target Man – Est. Value €2.6K
Magnus Grødem – 14.08.1998 – MC (AMLC) – Mezzala – Est. Value €875
Kristoffer Klaesson – 27.11.2000 – GK – Sweeper Keeper – Est. Value €180

91. Kairat (Kazakhstan)

Transfer Budget: €2.3Mill

90. Zilina (Slovakia)

Transfer Budget: €300K

89. Crvena Cvezda (Serbia)

Transfer Budget: 2.3Mill

88. PAOK (Greece)

Transfer Budget: €1.5Mill

87. FC Midtjylland (Denmark)

Transfer Budget: €4Mill

86. Levski (Bulgaria)

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Martin Petkov – 15.01.2001 – AMLC – Winger – Est. Value €33K
Tomislav Papazov – 24.08.2001 – DC – No-Nonsense Central Defender – Est. Value €36K
Dimitar Sheytanov – 15.03.1999 – GK – Sweeper Keeper – Est. Value €19K
Stanislav Ivanov – 16.04.1999 – AMRC (AML) – Winger – Est. Value €90K

Transfer Budget: €354K

85. Lech Poznan (Poland)

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Robert Gumny – 04.06.1998 – D/WBR – Fullback – Est. Value €1.3Mill
Kamil Jozwiak – 22.04.1998 – M/AMRLC – Attacking Midfielder – Est. Value €525K
Tymoteusz Klups – 26.02.2000 – M/AMR – Winger – Est. Value €235K
Pawel Tomczyk – 04.05.1998 – ST/AML – Poacher – Est. Value €450K

Transfer Budget: €780K

84. Celtic (Scotland)

Transfer Budget: €5.79Mill

83. Chivas (Mexico)

Transfer Budget: €855K

82. Rangers (Scotland)

Transfer Budget: €2Mill

81. Vitória de Guimarães (Portugal)

Ones To Watch – Under 18 Football Talents

Mário Ferreira – 20.04.2000 – AMRL (AMC/ST) – Winger – Est. Value €27K
Edu Vieira – 19.12.2001 – AMLC – Inside Forward – Est. Value €550
Sérgio Dutra – 22.03.2002 – GK – Goalkeeper – Est. Value €425
Théo Fonseca – 11.06.2000 – ST – Advanced Forward – Est. Value €550

Transfer Budget: €300K

80. Sporting Clube de Braga (Portugal)

Transfer Budget: 3Mill

79. FC Nordsjælland (Denmark)

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Mohammed Kudus – 02.08.2000 – AMC (MC) – Shadow Striker – Est. Value €325K
Jacob Christensen – 25.06.2001 – DM/MC – Half Back – Est. Value €83K
Mikkel Damsgaard – 03.07.2000 – AMLC/MC – Advanced Playmaker – Est. Value €235K
Magnus Kofod – 10.05.1999 – DM/MC – Central Midfielder – Est. Value €650K

Transfer Budget: €1.3Mill

78. Malmö FF (Sweden)

Transfer Budget: €2.8Mill

77. Danubio (Uruguay)

Transfer Budget: €4K

76. Defensor Sporting (Uruguay)

Transfer Budget: 50K

75. Nacional (Uruguay)

Transfer Budget: €64K

74. ASEC Mimosa (Ivory Coast)

Transfer Budget: €125K

73. FC Viitorul (Romania)

Transfer Budget: 50K

72. Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia)

Transfer Budget: €6.5Mill

71. Dnipro (Ukraine)

70. Esbjerg (Denmark)

Transfer Budget: €33K

69. Vitesse (Holland)

Transfer Budget: €1.5Mill

68. Rennes (France)

Transfer Budget: €10Mill

67. Paris SG (France)

Transfer Budget: €60Mill

66. Leeds (England)

Transfer Budget: €1.67Mill

65. Sarajevo (Bosnia & Hercegovina)

Transfer Budget: €200K

64. Slavia Prague (Czech Rep.)

Transfer Budget: €160K

63. Banants Yerevan (Armenia)

62. Cerro Porteño (Paraguay)

Transfer Budget: €2.4Mill

61. Stabæk (Norway)

Transfer Budget: N/A

60. Servette (Switzerland)

Transfer Budget: N/A

59. Austria Vienna (Austria)

Transfer Budget: €160K

58. Real Sociedad (Spain)

57. Lazio (Italy)

56. Maccabi Haifa (Israel)

Transfer Budget: €500K

55. Universidad Católica (Chile)

Transfer Budget: €513K

54. Botev Plovdiv (Bulgaria)

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Talents

Kristian Dobrev – 27.04.2001 – AMR/ST – Inside Forward – Est. Value €22K
Stanislav Shopov – 23.02.2002 – AMC (MC/AMR) – Attacking Midfielder – Est. Value €40K
Dimitar Tonev – 15.10.2001 – AMC (MC/AMRL) – Shadow Striker – Est. Value €13K
Gabriel Zemyarski – 26.01.2001 – D/WBL – Wing-Back – Est. Value €7.5K

Transfer Budget: €50K

53. Pyunik (Armenia)

52. Maccabi Tel-Aviv (Israel)

Transfer Budget: €250K

51. Hearts (Scotland)

Transfer Budget: €167K

50. Schalke 04 (Germany)

Transfer Budget: €10Mill

49. Liverpool (England)

Transfer Budget: €44.5Mill

48. Grasshoppers (Switzerland)

Transfer Budget: €176K

47. Club Brugge (Belgium)

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Dennis Bonaventure – 15.11.1997 – AMR (WBR/MR/AML/ST) – Winger – Est. Value €2.5Mill
Krépin Diatta – 25.02.1999 – AMRLC/WBR – Winger – Est. Value €2.5Mill
Brandon Baiye – 27.12.2000 – DM/MC – Ball Winning Midfielder – Est. Value €200K
Ikoma Lois Openda – 16.02.2000 – ST/AMC – Advanced Forward – Est. Value €425K

Transfer Budget: €3.75Mill

46. AS Monaco (France)

Transfer Budget: €40Mill

45. A.C. Milan (Italy)

Ones To Watch – Under 18 Talents

Alessandro Plizzari – 12.03.2000 – GK – Sweeper Keeper – Est. Value €625K
Raoul Bellanova – 17.05.2000 – D/WBR – Full-Back – Est. Value €100K
Gabriele Capanni – 02.12.2000 – AMLR – Inside Forward – Est. Value €110K
Matteo Soncin – 28.03.2001 – GK – Sweeper Keeper – Est. Value €63K
Lorenzo Colombo – 08.03.2002 – ST – Advanced Forward – Est. Value €13.25K

Transfer Budget: €22.5Mill

44. Arsenal (England)

Transfer Budget: 76.5Mill

43. Inter Milan (Italy)

Transfer Budget: €25Mill

42. Ludogorets (Bulgaria)

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Talents

Svetoslav Kovachev – 28.12.2001 – M/AMRL – Winger – Est. Value €325K (On Loan at Dunav)
Petar Karaangelov – 28.12.2001 – M/AMC – Attacking Midfielder – Est. Value €20K
Georgi Babaliev – 14.05.2001 – ST/AMRL – Advanced Forward – Est. Value €30K
Kiril Yanakiev – 28.01.2001 – ML (WB/AML) – Defensive Winger – Est. Value €23.5K

Transfer Budget: €1.5Mill

41. Olympiakos (Greece)

Transfer Budget: 1Mill

40. VfB Stuttgart (Germany)

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Talents

Roberto Massimo – 12.10.2001 – M/AMRL – Winger – Est. Value €325K (On Loan at Arm. Bielefeld)

Transfer Budget: €3Mill

39. Colo Colo (Chile)

38. River Plate (Argentina)

We head over the Atlantic ocean, to the land were the best footballers of all time have been produced. We’re talking about Argentina of course, the country who gave us Lionel Messi and Diego Armando Maradona. With 36 league titles, 10 cup trophies and 16 international tournament wins, it’s one of the most successful clubs in the country.

As one of the leading clubs in the country at youth development we find River Plate. From here, Ariel Ortega, Hernan Crespo, Oscar Más and Alfredo Di Stéfano erupted. All magnificent players with an eye for the goal. But it’s not only forwards they are most known to produce. also some of the best defenders in Argentina have come through the ranks of River Plate; Martin Demichelis, Javier Mascherano and Matias Almeyda.

If we also include players who have played for the club, such as Daniel Passarella, Ubaldo Fillol and Gabriel Batistuta, you can see the River Plate players have made an huge impact on the Argentinian national team.

For a complete history of Club Atlético River Plate, check out this great read.

37. Partizan Belgrade (Serbia)

Transfer Budget: 1.3Mill

36. Olympique Lyonnais (France)

Transfer Budget: €40Mill

35. Athletic Club Bilbao (Spain)

Transfer Budget: 25Mill

34. Universidad de Chile (Chile)

Transfer Budget: €1.7Mill

33. Sturm Graz (Austria)

32. Sparta Prague (Czech Rep.)

Transfer Budget: €9.3Mill

31. Melbourne City (Australia)

Transfer Budget: €206K

30. Envigado (Colombia)

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Talents

Santiago Jímenez – 01.03.1998 – DRC/WBR – Wing-Back – Est. Value €13.75K
Iván Angulo – 22.03.1999 – AMRC – Winger – Est. Value €43.5K
Carlos Páez – 22.06.1998 – DRC – Wing-Back – Est. Value €34K

Transfer Budget: €676K

29. FC Admira Wacker Mödling (Austria)

28. PSV (Holland)

Transfer Budget: €3Mill

27. Atalanta (Italy)

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Talents

Filippo Melegoni – 18.02.1999 – DM/MC – Deep Lying Playmaker – Est. Value €1.2Mill (On loan at Pescara)
Musa Barrow – 14.11.1998 – ST – Advanced Forward – Est. Value €7.5Mill
Alessandro Cortinovis – 25.01.2001 – MC/AMRC – Advanced Playmaker – Est. Value €190K
Marco Tumminello – 06.11.1998 – ST – Pressing Forward – Est. Value €1.6Mill
Dejan Kulusevski – 25.04.2000 – MC (M/AMRL) – Advanced Playmaker – Est. Value €245K

Transfer Budget: €12Mill

26. Feyenoord (Holland)

Ones To Watch – Under 18 Talents

Wouter Burger – 16.02.2001 – MC/DM – Central Midfielder – Est. Value €145K
Joey Koorevaar – 22.02.2001 – GK – Goalkeeper – Est. Value €115K
Tyrell Malacia – 17.08.1999 – D/WBL – Wing Back – Est. Value €500K
Lutsharel Geertruida – 18.07.2000 – DRC/WBR – Wing Back – Est. Value €180K
Marouan Azarkan – 08.12.2001 – AMLR – Winger – Est. Value €90K

Transfer Budget: €2Mill

25. Middlesbrough (England)

Transfer Budget: €4.45Mill

24. Shakhtar (Ukraine)

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Talents

Marquinhos Cipriano – 09.02.1999 – AMR – Inside Forward – Est. Value €3.9Mill
Fernando – 01.03.1999 – AMRL – Inside Forward – Est. Value €850K
Dmytro Topalov – 12.03.1998 – MC – Central Midfielder – Est. Value €245K
Valeriy Bondar – 27.02.1999 – DC – Central Defender – Est. Value €135K
Victor Korniyenko – 14.02.1999 – D/WB/ML – Winger – Est. Value €69K

Transfer Budget: €8.55Mill

23. Juventus (Italy)

Transfer Budget: €20Mill

22. Standard (Belgium)

Transfer Budget: €2Mill

21. KRC Genk (Belgium)

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Talents

Edon Zhegrova – 31.03.1999 – M/AMRL – Winger – Est. Value €800K
Maarten Vandevoordt – 26.02.2002 – GK – Sweeper Keeper – Est. Value €76K
Sander Berge – 18.02.1998 – DM/MC – Deep Lying Playmaker – Est. Value €7.5Mill
Jhon Lucumi – 26.06.1998 – DLC/WBL – Central Defender – Est. Value €3.2Mill
Vladimir Screciu – 13.01.2000 – D/DM/MC – Segundo Volante – Est. Value €700K

Transfer Budget: €2Mill

20. Ajax CT (South Africa)

Transfer Budget: €233K

19. Pachuca (Mexico)

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Talents

Roberto de la Rosa – 04.01.2000 – ST -Poacher – Est. Value €6.75K
Pablo López – 07.01.1998 – MC – Mezzala – Est. Value €92K
Abraham Romero – 18.02.1998 – GK – Goalkeeper – Est. Value €72K
Francisco Venegas – 16.07.1998 – DC/DM – Central Defender – Est. Value €88K (On Loan at Everton de Viña)

Transfer Budget: €4.2Mill

18. Everton (England)

Transfer Budget: €4.78Mill

17. Southampton (England)

Transfer Budget: €36.6Mill

16. FC Bayern Münich (Germany)

Ones To Watch – Under 18 Talents

Joshua Zirkzee – 22.05.2001 – ST – Poacher – Est. Value €450K
Oliver Batista Meier – 16.02.2001 – M/AMRL – Inverted Winger – Est. Value €350K
Christian Früchtl – 28.01.2000 – GK – Sweeper Keeper – Est. Value €300K
Timothy Tillman – 04.01.1999 – M/AMLC – Inverted Winger – Est. Value €900K
Jeong Woo-yeong – 20.09.1999 – M/AMRL – Inverted Winger – Est. Value €900K

Transfer Budget: €115Mill

15. Anderlecht (Belgium)

Transfer Budget: €5Mill

14. AS Roma (Italy)

Transfer Budget: €25Mill

13. AZ (Holland)

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Talents

Calvin Stengs – 18.12.1998 – M/AMRL – Inside Forward – Est. Value €1.8Mill
Myron Boadu – 14.01.2001 – AMRL/ST – Inside Forward – Est. Value €1.6Mill
Owen Wijndal – 28.11.1999 – DLC/WBL – Wing-Back – Est. Value €245K
Jasper Schendelaar – 02.09.2000 – GK – Sweeper Keeper – Est. Value €215K
Mohamed Taabouni – 29.03.2002 – M/AMC – Advanced Playmaker – Est. Value €75K

Transfer Budget: €4.5Mill

12. Real Madrid (Spain)

Transfer Budget: €60Mill

11. FC Porto (Portugal)

Transfer Budget: €3Mill

10. FC Basel (Switzerland)

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Talents

Noah Okafor – 24.05.2000 – AML/ST – Inside Forward – Est. Value €1.3Mill
Julian van Moos – 01.04.2001 – ST – Advanced Forward – Est. Value €375K
Alessandro Stabile – 18.07.2000 – D/WBR – Wing-Back – Est. Value €86K
Dmitri Oberlin – 27.09.1997 – AML/ST – Inside Forward – Est. Value €2.2Mill

Transfer Budget: €2.9Mill

9. AFC Ajax (Holland)

Transfer Budget: €15Mill

8. Sporting CP (Portugal)

A close call between the two Portuguese rivals. A minor difference in the quality of the coaching staff and in the level of youth facility and junior coaching made Sporting Lisbon this years runner-up. The youth academy of Sporting can be labelled as a world class institution. Three times award winner of the prestigious Ballon D’Or, Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani, Luis Figo, Eric Dier, Paulo Futre, Simão Sabrosa, Luis Boa Morte and Ricardo Quaresma are just some of the fortunate players who have received their football education at the Sporting Clube de Portugal Youth and Academy. For the 2015-2016 season, Sporting CP were one of few clubs in Europe who fielded 11 youth rank graduates.

We are a small country but we produce the world’s best.
Bruno de Carvalho, President, Sporting Clube de Portugal, 2016¹

Sporting Lisbon is the only club in the world that has developed and trained two FIFA World Players of the year, Luis Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Diogo Matos, Head of Youth academy, Sporting Clube de Portugal, 2012¹

Ones To Watch – Under 18 Football Talents

Daniel Braganca – 27.05.1999 – DM/MC – Deep Lying Playmaker – Est. Value €325K
Diogo Brás – 16.03.2000 – AMRL – Winger – Est. Value €69K
Gonçalo Costa – 18.02.2000 – D/WBL – Full Back – Est. Value €25.5K
Bernardo Sousa – 27.03.2000 – AMC – Enganche – Est. Value €3.3K
Tiago Djaló – 09.04.2000 – DC – No-Nonsense Defender – Est. Value €82K
Félix Correia – 22.01.2001 – AMRLC – Winger – Est. Value €4.6K

Transfer Budget: €8Mill

7. Tottenham (England)

Transfer Budget: €30.8Mill

6. Man City (England)

Transfer Budget: €63.3Mill

Manchester City’s new City Football Academy is one of the newest football academies in top football. Officially opened in 2014, the latest State of the Art training facility costed £200Mill according to Mirror. The billionaire owner, Sheikh Mansour, have invested heavily to make the club the best in the world. If we look at the clubs’ youth facilities and training facilities the club are on their way to put AFC Ajax, FC Barcelona and the Portuguese trio down from their throne, but quite not there yet. But this is something Pep Guardiola and his entrusted team of former Barcelona staff will revolutionize in the following years.

While the list of Manchester City graduates who have taken the world stage is currently minimal the reality for us Football Manager fans will be quite different in the following seasons. With state of the art youth facilities we can expect a range of promising talents and future wonderkids coming through the youth intake in the years to follow. For now, you are fortunate to get excited about tenth of promising talents, some highlighted below, who have the potential to take the Premier League with storm in the near future.

Here it’s important to mention that most of the best talents within their youth ranks have been bought after the age of 16 from clubs that are re-known for producint top talents as well (e.g. Paris SG and Barcelona).

Ones To Watch – Under 18 Talents

Claudio Gomes – 23.07.2000 – DM – Ball Winning Midfielder – Est. Value €625K
Brahim Díaz – 03.08.1999 – M/AMC – Trequartista – Est. Value €4.1Mill
Phil Foden – 28.05.2000 – AMC – Attacking Midfielder – Est. Value €34Mill
Nabil Touaizi – 30.11.2000 – AMC/ST – Advanced Forward – Est. Value €145K
Eric Garcia – 09.01.2001 – DC – Central Defender – Est. Value €150K
Taylor Richards – 04.12.2000 – M/AMRC – Attacking Midfielder – Est. Value €25K

5. Chelsea (England)

As one of the richest soccer clubs on the globe in 2017, Chelsea is still not as famed for producing the same amount of world class players like what Manchester United have done in George Best or Bobby Charlton. You can argue that football has changed dramatically since then and that Chelsea has done all the right steps to develop future club legends on their own. That’s why the club have scoured the world for the best talents and picked up one after one. When the 2017 Summer Transfer Window closed, a record high 32 players were out on loan² out of the 101 players attached to the club. (NB. This amount has decreased slightly for the 2018 season.)

Currently the first team squad features only 6 players with English nationality, but within their youth ranks there are a number of English promising talents that could become an important figure in the Premier League in the future. Some of them you’ll get to know below, but their transfer policy in reason years has made their youth rank into a squad with a huge crop of Football Manager wonderkids.

Ones To Watch – Under 18 Talents

Ethan Ampadu – 14.09.2000 – DC/DM – Ball Winning Midfielder – Est. Value €11Mill
Callum Hudson-Odoi – 07.11.2000 – AMRLC – Winger – Est. Value €1.1Mill
Dujon Sterling – 24.10.1999 – D/WB/AMR – Winger – Est. Value €750K (On Loan at Coventry)
Reece James – 08.12.1999 – DRC – Wing-Back – Est. Value €5Mill (On Loan at Wigan)
Daishawn Redan – 02.02.2001 – ST – Pressing Forward – Est. Value €250K
Juan Familia-Castillo – 13.01.2000 – WB/ML (D/AML) – Winger – Est. Value €250K

Transfer Budget: €54.5Mill

4. Manchester United (England)

While Man City has a world class setup with their current squad of youth academy players, which counts of nearly 450 players in real life, the youth academy of Man Utd were on the brink of becoming outdated according to Nicky Butt. The many managerial changes and the lack of an overall football philosophy may be some reasons why the academy of Man Utd were in decline. Rather it seems the club haven’t been able to keep track of the rapid evolution in world football, both on the pitch and on the training ground.

With José Mourinho in charge, a manager who’s not highly reputed as one to give youth a chance, the revamp of the academy is in rising. Perhaps fortunate for the Red Devils fans who can profit in the years to come by being able to replicate the Class of 92 in Football Manager 2019, simply because of the state of the art youth facilities and excellent junior coaching. The Class of 92 existed of legends like Ryan Giggs, the Neville brothers, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes and David Beckham, whom most of them were from the North West region of England. Now it may seem like most of the Under-21 players at Manchester United exists of players that have been brought to the club via their well established youth recruitment program and great scouting knowledge. The dream of re-creating the legendary class of 92 featuring all local talents may seem like a distant dream. Luckily the truth is different. Before the 2017-2018 season, a few foreign youngsters with high potential were captured.

Put your faith in the new wonderkid, Mason Greenwood or Callum Gribbin, the wonderkid who were born in the same town as Paul Scholes, Salford, hot prospect Angel Gomes and new Dutch talent Tahith Chong and try the challenge of recreating a class of 2018.

Ones To Watch – Under 18 Talents

Angel Gomes – 31.08.2000 – AMLC – Trequartista – Est. Value €925K
Tahith Chong – 04.12.1999 – AMRLC/ST – Inside Forward – Est. Value €5Mill
Mason Greenwood – 01.10.2001 – ST – Advanced Forward – Est. Value €325K
Arnau Puigmal – 10.01.2001 – MC – Mezzala – Est. Value €115K
Ethan Laird – 04.08.2001 – DR/WBR – Wing Back – Est. Value €94K

Transfer Budget: €92Mill

3. Barcelona (Spain)

Transfer Budget: €20Mill

2. FC RB Salzburg (Austria)

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Amadou Haidara – 31.01.1998 – DM/MC – Deep Lying Playmaker – Est. Value €6Mill
Dominik Szoboszlai – 25.10.2000 – AMC (AML) – Advanced Playmaker – Est. Value €1Mill
Sékou Keïta – 27.11.1999 – ST – Poacher – Est. Value €250K
Hannes Wolf – 16.04.1999 – AMC – Advanced Playmaker – Est. Value €4Mill
Xavier Schlager – 28.09.1997 – MC – Deep Lying Playmaker – Est. Value €4.5Mill

Transfer Budget: €8Mill

1. Benfica (Portugal)

At the top of the list we find Sport Lisboa e Benfica – a Portuguese club with a long and proud history. The Benfica youth academy, also known as the Seixal after the region it is located, features a State of the Art Training facilities and has served Europe with a range of talents, while also leading the club to become the most successful club in Portugal with 79 trophies in their 112 year long history. They won the double last season (Primeira Liga and Taca de Portugal 2016-2017). Current Fiorentina coach Paulo Sousa, Manchester City’s new starlet Bernardo Silva and FC Bayerns Renato Sanches are some of the graduates of the Seixal academy, while former Ballon D’Or and two times European Golden Boot winner Eusebio stands out as their biggest star of all time. He too can also be described as a Benfica product since he entered the gates of Estádio da Luz at the age of 18. Other former talents who have been part of the youth academy of Benfica at some point are; Lazar Markovic, Angel di Maria, Andre Gomes and profilic striker Nuno Gomes.

The current Benfica squad is build around the former Seixal youth academy graduates Goncalo Guedes, Andre Horta, Victor Lindeløf and Nélson Semedo, but features also a range of other promising talents to watch, which makes the club an exciting club to try for a Football Manager youth development challenge.

Benfica’s training and youth facilities in FM18 as well as Football Manager 2019 can only be described as phenomenal. With an extensive youth recruitment and exceptional junior coaching it has the best foundation for receiving a wealth of promising talents at the annual youth intake, while also being able to develop them into future world class players with state of the art youth facilities and a large pool of 5 star coaches and backroom staff in the likes of Minervino Pietra, Sérgio Botelho and Luis Tralhão.

Ones To Watch – Under 21 Football Talents

Gedson Fernandes – 09.01.1999 – MC – Box to Box Midfielder – Est. Value €9Mill
Úmaro Embaló – 06.05.2001 – AMRL – Winger – Est. Value €16.5K
Mile Svilar – 27.08.1999 – GK – Sweeper Keeper – Est. Value €500K
João Félix – 10.11.1999 – M/AMLC – Advanced Playmaker – Est. Value €3.5Mill
Kevin Csoboth – 20.06.2000 – ST/AMRL – Advanced Forward – Est. Value €550

Transfer Budget: €15Mill

Honorable Mentions

While this list includes mostly playable clubs, or clubs that can be playable by downloading a lower league database or unlocking an additional tier or two within the editor, there are a host of real youth academies around the world that’s not included.

These youth academies may be beneficial to pay attention to, for example around the dates of the annual youth intake for the country to check whether new promising talents has been added. The youth academies I pay attention to are;

AKA Burgenland
AKA St. Pölten NÖ
Académie Mohammed VI
AIS (Canada)
Right to Dream (RTD) Academy (Ghana)
CP Rapid Bucuresti (U19)
Toronto FC III
Dnipro Football Academy
RGUOR
Académie JMH Paradou
FCB Juniors Luján
INF Clairefontaine

Sources & Credit

1# How Sporting CP’s youth academy has shaped Portugal, 2016 by Maya Mahadevan, Sportskeeda.com
2# Chelsea have 38 players out on loan – but who and where are they?, 01.09.2016, by Guardian Sport