Who has the best youth academy in the world if you do not include Barca?

River Plate is a competitor for the first spot:

Pablo Aimar
Hernan Crespo
Javier Mascherano
Gonzalo Higuain
Radamel Falcao

If you go further back you can also find some legends of the game:

Omar Sivori
Alfredo di Stefano

And some of the most exciting youth are also from the River youth academy:

Erik Lamela
Manuel Lanzini
German Pezzela (defender, watch out for this guy, will make his stamp in the 2014 WC)
Musacchio

Germany teams by a country mile. they have a organized structure for developing teenagers to world class players.
Third best is Ajax and some other dutch teams.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:River Plate is a competitor for the first spot:

Pablo Aimar
Hernan Crespo
Javier Mascherano
Gonzalo Higuain
Radamel Falcao

If you go further back you can also find some legends of the game:

Omar Sivori
Alfredo di Stefano

And some of the most exciting youth are also from the River youth academy:

Erik Lamela
Manuel Lanzini
German Pezzela (defender, watch out for this guy, will make his stamp in the 2002 WC)
Musacchio

Bit late dont you think?

BarrileteCosmico wrote:River Plate is a competitor for the first spot:

Pablo Aimar
Hernan Crespo
Javier Mascherano
Gonzalo Higuain
Radamel Falcao

If you go further back you can also find some legends of the game:

Omar Sivori
Alfredo di Stefano

And some of the most exciting youth are also from the River youth academy:

Erik Lamela
Manuel Lanzini
German Pezzela (defender, watch out for this guy, will make his stamp in the 2014 WC)
Musacchio

Santos and Ajax

Real Madrid has produced more professional players than any other academy in the world. It also has more players from its academy playing professional football than any other in the world today.

/end of

Crimson wrote:Real Madrid has produced more professional players than any other academy in the world. It also has more players from its academy playing professional football than any other in the world today.

/end of

yet how many of them made it big?

Ganso wrote:

Crimson wrote:Real Madrid has produced more professional players than any other academy in the world. It also has more players from its academy playing professional football than any other in the world today.

/end of

yet how many of them made it big?

depends on what you consider big...

Inter's is great

Too bad we sell/loan/co-own all of them out

the nerve of these people how the fook is Barca the best academy? what barca did with this recent generation, Ajax have been doing for DECADES. Lol INFACT barca is a product of ajax
Ajax's academy has produced higher "class" of players than Barca, Inter Milan United Arsenal Chelsea Madrid Byren Sporting with 1/10 of the economic backing that is given to those European elites.

I'd go for the Dutch and German youth systems in general.

In Germany each 1st and 2nd league team is *required* to have a youth academy with defined top standards (coaching etc) to get their license. And if you look at the German clubs you can see that they even use a lot of their youth products in the first teams even.

Didnt Valencia develop Villa, Silva, Pablo, Albiol, and Joaquin (among others)? Thays pretty impressive, even if its not so recent.

Juventus also has a strong youth development. Chiellini, Marchisio, De Ceglie, Giovinco, Pasquato, De Silvestro, Ariaudo, Criscito, Boniperti, Immobile, Ekdal, Giandonato, etc all were developed through Juves youtb system, which is very strong. I think both Cassani and Balzaretti started at Juve too. And while Sorensen didnt start here, hes certainly developing here.

AZ Alkmaar
I like Patrizan
Red Star Belgrade
Dynamo Kiev
Barca
Madrid
Sporting
Porto
Ajax
PSV
Internacional
Santos
Penarol (They buy them before they join other teams does that count?)
River Plate
Boca


So many.