VCF Academy fifth most productive for Europe's big leagues

The VCF Academy is a cornerstone of the Valencia CF project for the present and future, and has produced a conveyer belt of talent year after year. This has been reflected in a recent study carried out by the CIES Football Observatory, which lists the academy as the youth system to have provided the fifth most players to the five main European leagues. Some 24 players have come through the ranks at Paterna to play first team football around the continent.

Valencia CF coach Albert Celades is the main beneficiary of the work being done at the VCF Academy, with six homegrown players in his squad: Jaume, Jaume Costa, Gayà, Carlos Soler, Kang In and Ferran Torres), all of them with the exception of Jaume are included among the CIES study, but the academy has also been the proving ground for stars currently on the books at clubs in LaLiga, the Premier League, Serie A, the Bundesliga and Ligue 1.

The ranking takes into account footballers who have spent a minimum of three seasons in a specific youth system between the ages of 15 and 21, and is headed by Real Madrid (39 players), followed by FC Barcelona (34), Olympique Lyonnais (30), Manchester United (28) and Valencia CF. The club have six more VCF Academy products in first team action in Europe than last season.