Tottenham named Premier League’s best team for club-trained players amid new low in the division
Premier League clubs are giving fewer chances to their young players than ever before, a new study has found.
This season just 11.7 per cent of players in the league play for the club that trained them – down from 13.8 per cent last year.
Tottenham are currently the most effective club at blooding academy graduates into their first-team squad, with 32 per cent of players club-trained according to Uefa's definition of a player who has spent at least three seasons between the age of 15 and 21 with his employer team.
Premier League clubs' increasing reluctance or ability to bring through young players is part of a wider trend with the number of club-trained players falling below 20 per cent across 31 top European divisions for the first time since 2009.
Arsenal and Manchester United, both of whom – like Tottenham – had academy graduates on the score sheet this weekend, follow Spurs as the next best teams for club-trained players with 24 per cent and 20 per cent respectively.
Spurs' commitment to youth has been cemented by current manager Mauricio Pochettino, with young English players such as Harry Kane, Eric Dier, Dele Alli, Ryan Mason and Josh Onomah all contributing to their impressive performance in the North London derby on Sunday.
Tottenham defender/midfielder Eric Dier praised his manager's trust in youth after receiving his first England call-up last week, saying: "The boss gives us young players a chance. He believes in us and it's a matter of us taking that chance.
"If you do that, he sticks with you and believes in you. It is great to have someone like him who believes in us and gives us the platform to play on."
Yet not every club is following Spurs' example. Swansea and Bournemouth are joint worst in the Premier League with zero club-trained players between them this season.
Furthermore, even young players who do make it into their club's first team squad are often given little chance to make an impact. Club-trained players have appeared in just 7.7 per cent of Premier League minutes so far this season.
Spain's La Liga is the only division in Europe's top five leagues (La Liga, Premier League, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A and French Ligue 1) where the percentage of club-trained players is above 20 per cent.
Although Italy's Serie A has a lower number of club-trained players than the Premier League, England's premier division has more overseas players than the other top leagues in the region.
Chelsea have the highest number of expatriate players in the Premier League, making up 83.3 per cent of their squad, and Manchester City follow at 74.1 per cent.
Although Manchester United can't quite match Spurs' level of club-trained players with just six in their current squad, they are still one of Europe's biggest providers of talent with 25 now plying their trade elsewhere – only Lyon, Real Madrid and Barcelona from Europe's top five leagues can boast higher numbers.