The Best Football Development Clubs In The World

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The Best Football Development Clubs In The World

June 26, 2019, by Asher K

Top Football Development Clubs In The World

La Masia

Barcelona FC owes a lot of their success to La Masia, their youth academy, which is one the best in the world. In tune with the Barcelonian spirit, La Masia was once an old Catalan Farmhouse. It is now home to over 300 up and coming football players. The academy focuses on a "total football" philosophy, which includes focusing on dynamism, fluidity, and dexterity, and also instills in their players the traditional one touch Spanish type of play - tiki-taka.

La Masia has some notable alumni, which includes five-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, who were all nominated for the prestigious award in one single year, as well as Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol.

AFC Ajax Youth Academy.

Colloquially known as De Toekoms or the future, the Ajax football academy had been constantly dishing out world class players. Based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, it is definitely one of the most successful academies for young football players, and the club proves this with their multiple Eredivisie titles and KNVB Cups. Ajax is credited to bring one of the original developers of total football, a style of play that focuses on fluidity and interchangeability, which developed in the Netherlands and was appropriated by several other football teams. Young talents are scouted as young as six years old and are trained to perfect the 4-3-3 formation. At the academy, there is a focus on TIPS - Technique, Insight, Personality, and Speed. They have produced some big names in football, like Clarence Seedorf, Johan Cruyff, Patrick Kluivert, Christian Eriksen, and many others.

The Bayern Munich Junior Team

When it comes to German football, Bayern Munich is in the top, and plenty of credit is due to their youth academy. The academy has produced some phenomenal players over the years and is one of the most efficient and inventive youth academy setups the world has ever seen. Many of its players go on to become regulars in the Bundesliga and other big German leagues. Although most of their inductees come from Germany, they have talent days, where they scout for potential inductees, all over the world. Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier, Thomas Mueller, and Philipp Lahm have all had their beginning right here.

The Manchester United Youth Academy

With top quality players like David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Sir Bobby Charlton coming out from this academy, it no surprise why the Manchester United Youth Academy is considered to be the best in the world nine of their players were inducted into the English football hall of fame. Sir Alex Ferguson was also a part of the academy, for 25 years. They have some incredibly skilled players enrolled right now that everyone should certainly keep an eye out for, like Angel Gomez, Tahith Chong, and Mason Greenwood. They undoubtedly produced some of Manchester United best players and additionally, their youth team is amongst the most successful in English football, with their class of 1992 being the most successful.

They also have great facilities that include a pitch with the same dimensions as Old Trafford.

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