Ajax top of the league in training youth players
Amsterdam football club Ajax has the most prolific youth academy in Europe for producing young talent, according to a report by the Swiss-based International Centre for Sports Studies.
The institute looked at Europe’s most competitive 31 leagues last year and found 69 players who had been trained in the Ajax youth academy, news agency Reuters reported.
Ajax were followed by Partizan Belgrade, Hajduk Split and Barcelona.
CIES considers a ‘club-trained player’ to be someone who has spent at least three seasons with a team between the ages of 15 and 21.
The Ajax success stories include Nigel de Jong (AC Milan), Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburg SV), Wesley Sneijder (Galatasaray), Urby Emanuelson (Fulham), Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham Hotspur), Gregory van der Wiel (Paris St Germain) and Maarten Stekelenburg (AS Roma).
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