Clubs leading the way for homegrown talent in Europe's top five leagues

Bengaluru, June 15: Many football sides often try to look into the next big thing coming through their own ranks.

Especially in Germany, they look to instil more homegrown players in their teams. On the other hand, English sides are often censured for not giving opportunities to their homegrown players.

But in the latest revelation, it has been brought to light that this year, Manchester United's squad has a higher percentage of homegrown players than any other team in Europe's top five leagues, and even they have played more minutes than any of the sides.

The English side's 40.7% of the first-team squad is made up of academy graduates which are highest in Europe's top five leagues.

Usually in any big club finding a spot for homegrown talents in the first team is tricky. In a world with so much established talent and available in the market you have to be truly special to breakthrough. But Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has precisely carried on the club's great tradition by throwing youth prospects who have impressed in the academy in the first-team.

Earlier the likes of Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard were already involved in the first-team role. But after Solskjaer's arrival, he has also blended in the likes of Andreas Pereira, Mason Greenwood, Brandon Williams and Axel Tuanzebe in the first team.

The Premier League has a total of eight teams in top 40 including Manchester United. After the Red Devils, Chelsea have the highest number of homegrown talents from England with 29.6%. Arsenal have 25.9% while Southampton have 23.8%, Tottenham 20%, Liverpool 15.4% and Manchester City 12.5%.

The second team with the most homegrown product in Europe's top five leagues is Athletic Club Bilbao with 37.5% homegrown players in the first-team set-up. The Spanish side has a policy of only recruiting players from the Basque region hence, it is not so surprising to see them above in the listing.

Celta Vigo is just behind them in the list with 37.3%. On the other hand, Real Madrid and Barcelona both have a moderate presence in the list with 23.1% and 23.7% occupancy in the first team in the homegrown quota.

But the top 40 list in Europe's top five leagues is mostly filled with German sides. Out of 40, 12 clubs in this list are packed with German clubs. Mainz 05 have the highest number of homegrown talent with 33.3% while Hoffenheim have the lowest in the top 40 with 14.8%. Bayern have 24.1% homegrown presence in the side while Dortmund have 15.4%.