Tottenham leading the Premier League
In 2012, the Premier League introduced the £320m Elite Player Performance Plan which was aimed at improving the quality of young English players and increase their first team opportunities.
There has however been an increase in foreign players over the last three years so clubs now send their young players out on loan to gain experience and develop to a standard where they can start to be considered for first team football.
Research by the CIES Football Observatory has found that just 11.7% of top-flight players graduated from their club's academy, which is down from 13.8% last year. The figure across the major leagues in Europe has sunk below 20% for the first time since this research began in 2009. The criteria is that a player has spent three years at the club between the ages of 15 and 21.
Now 59.9% of Premier League players are foreign with only Cyprus having more. If you compare that to the other major leagues Italy (56.5%), Germany (45.9%), Spain (39.9%), France (30.5%) and add in the fact that nationals from these countries frequently play abroad whereas English players generally do not and you start to see the problem England have when it comes to selecting an England side. Our pool of players is so much smaller so winning a trophy is a virtually impossible task for any manager.
Tottenham are leading the way. While the average age of players is on the increase, signifying itself the lack of opportunity for youngsters, Tottenham are consistently fielding the youngest team in the Premier League. We have the largest percentage of club-trained players in our squad in the Premier League, 32%. Despite this we still have 64% of internationals in the squad, the same as Arsenal and only bettered by Manchester United 72% and Chelsea 66.7%. Manchester City have 51.9% and Liverpool 50%.
There has however been an increase in foreign players over the last three years so clubs now send their young players out on loan to gain experience and develop to a standard where they can start to be considered for first team football.
Research by the CIES Football Observatory has found that just 11.7% of top-flight players graduated from their club's academy, which is down from 13.8% last year. The figure across the major leagues in Europe has sunk below 20% for the first time since this research began in 2009. The criteria is that a player has spent three years at the club between the ages of 15 and 21.
Now 59.9% of Premier League players are foreign with only Cyprus having more. If you compare that to the other major leagues Italy (56.5%), Germany (45.9%), Spain (39.9%), France (30.5%) and add in the fact that nationals from these countries frequently play abroad whereas English players generally do not and you start to see the problem England have when it comes to selecting an England side. Our pool of players is so much smaller so winning a trophy is a virtually impossible task for any manager.
Tottenham are leading the way. While the average age of players is on the increase, signifying itself the lack of opportunity for youngsters, Tottenham are consistently fielding the youngest team in the Premier League. We have the largest percentage of club-trained players in our squad in the Premier League, 32%. Despite this we still have 64% of internationals in the squad, the same as Arsenal and only bettered by Manchester United 72% and Chelsea 66.7%. Manchester City have 51.9% and Liverpool 50%.
Club Trained Players (Top 10)
- Tottenham Hotspur 32%
- Arsenal 24%
- Manchester United 20%
- Aston Villa 18.5%
- Everton 17.9%
- West Ham United 16.7%
- Southampton 14.8%
- Newcastle United 14.3%
- Watford 13.8%
- Chelsea 12.5%
Across the league, 41.1% are internationals compared with 30.9% in Germany and just 19.9% in Spain. That rather demonstrates why the Premier League is so tough. When was the last time you saw Bayern Munich, Barcelona or Real Madrid languishing in 16th place in the table. It demonstrates once again that it is easier to get UEFA Champions League football abroad than it is joining Tottenham which helps to explain why it is difficult attracting players. Also the average time a player stays at a Premier League club is 2.82 years showing how difficult it is to build a team.
Chelsea has 83.3% foreign players, the third highest in Europe, Slovenian side Zavrc have 88% and Roma have 85.2%. English clubs claim to be absolutely committed to developing English players and giving them opportunities, the figures from Chelsea totally belie this claim. We are Tottenham are doing our bit though.
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