The VCF Academy has once again been named amongst the best football academies in Europe, in the latest annual report by the CIES Football Observatory on players trained at each club who currently compete in one of the 5 major leagues in the continent (Spain, England, Germany, Italy and France).

The report, published by the CIES Football Observatory on Monday, ranks Valencia CF sixth both in quantitative values ​​(number of academy products currently competing at elite level) and in qualitative values ​​(using the Training Index that measures the level of the clubs, age and participation). For the third consecutive year, the VCF Academy is amongst the Top 10.

There are 25 players who, having trained at the VCF Academy, currently compete in one of the 'Big 5' leagues. Many of them do so at Valencia CF -José Luis Gayà, Carlos Soler, Toni Lato, Hugo Guillamón, Álex Blanco and Jesús Vázquez- but there are others in the Premier League, Serie A, Ligue 1 and different LaLiga clubs.

The criteria followed by the CIES Football Observatory is that established by UEFA. In it, players must have been at a specific academy for at least three seasons between the ages of 15 and 21, with only national league competitions taken into account. Therefore, the list does not include players such as Cristian Rivero, Yunus Musah or Koba Leïn, who could be part of next year's report.

The VCF Academy is a proven talent generation system, and the project is currently experiencing a boon. In the last three years, 12 players from the VCF Academy have debuted for the first team, having previously played for VCF Mestalla.

Jesús Vázquez, Valencia CF

Kang-In Lee, RCD Mallorca

Ferran Torres, Manchester City FC

Hugo Guillamón, Valencia CF

Álex Blanco, Valencia CF

Gonzalo Villar, AS Roma

Francisco Navarro, Gil Vicente FC

Toni Lato, Valencia CF

Toni Martínez, FC Porto

Rafa Mir, Sevilla FC

Carlos Soler, Valencia CF

Sito Pascual, Asteras Tripolis FC

Antonio Sivera, CD Alavés

José Gayá, Valencia CF

Nacho Vidal, CA Osasuna

Víctor Camarasa, Real Betis Balompié

Víctor Ruiz, FC St. Gallen

Paco Alcácer, Villarreal CF

Carlos Gracia, Mjällby AIF

Robert Ibáñez, CA Osasuna

Juan Bernat, Paris St-Germain FC

Portu Manzanera, Real Sociedad de Fútbol

Isco Alarcón, Real Madrid CF

Roger Martí, Levante UD

David Timor, Getafe CF

Ángel Montoro, Granada CF

Jaume Costa, RCD Mallorca

Dani Quintana, Jagiellonia Bialystok SSA

Vicente Guaita, Crystal Palace FC

David Silva, Real Sociedad de Fútbol

Raúl Albiol, Villarreal CF

Source: https://football-observatory.com/IMG/sites/b5wp/2021/wp353/en/