The Valencia CF Academy is one of the great references in Europe in the training of footballers to compete at the elite level. This is again shown by the CIES Football Observatory in its report 436 of October 2023, which places Valencia CF as the fourth best Academy in Europe in number of players trained at the Ciutat Esportiva de Paterna and who are currently playing in the Big 5 leagues: England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France.

This report published by the CIES Football Observatory this Wednesday places the VCF Academy in 4th position in Europe and for the fifth consecutive year appears in the top 10 in number of players trained at the VCF Academy who are currently competing in one of the 5 major leagues with a total of 29 players currently competing in LaLiga, La Premier League, Ligue 1 and Serie A.

The best position

This 4th position is the best position for the VCF Academy in quantitative terms since the CIES registry has existed and the figure of 29 players competing in the Big 5 is also the highest since these records have existed.

Ahead of Valencia CF only Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Ol. Lyon, while the top 10 behind Valencia CF is completed by Paris Saint Germain, Manchester United, Ath Club de Bilbao, TSF Hofenheim, Chelsea FC and Bayern Munich.

The main criterion followed by the CIES Football Observatory is the one established by UEFA whereby training clubs are those in which players have spent at least three seasons between the ages of 15 and 21 and have participated in the league of each country.

29 players in the Big 5

In this CIES report Valencia CF increases the number of players trained in its VCF Academy who are currently competing in the 5 major leagues with a total of 29 players, up from 25 last season.

37 players in all Europe

In the total number of European leagues, the number of players trained at the VCF Academy has also increased, rising from 30 to 37 players competing in one of the 31 European leagues, a figure that does not include the presence of Pedro Alemañ and Darío Serra in the Eredivise.

Identity and methodology

The VCF Academy once again shows its capacity to generate talent to supply players to the first team and to reach professional soccer. In the last 30 years there have been 113 players who have debuted in an official match with the first team having played at least previously at VCF's second team (VCF Mestalla).

This report goes to show that the identity and work methodology of the VCF Academy is a national and international benchmark in the training of players for the highest competitive level.

International recognition

The identity and work methodology of the VCF Academy also awakens interest at an international level as shown by the different VCF Soccer Academy that the club has located in strategic markets in North America, Europe and Asia, the different international alliances with clubs, as well as the VCF Soccer Camp or VCF Elite Camp, which in total allow Valencia CF to carry out activities with more than 5000 players in more than 50 countries.

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