Some of Europe’s biggest clubs have allowed academy players to leave who later became major stars, the report says, with one notable example being the 2024 Ballon d’Or-winning midfielder who spent six years in Atlético Madrid’s youth setup before being released at 16 for a reported lack of physical strength. The report says he moved to Villarreal, graduated to the first team, returned to Atlético in 2018 in a €25 million deal for a single season, then joined Manchester City and went on to win a string of major honours including four Premier League titles, the Champions League and Euro 2024 with Spain.
The piece highlights how pathways through youth systems are rarely straightforward and can be shaped by many factors, according to the report. It says players sometimes move as their families relocate, while others opt to leave after being assessed against intense competition for places or to seek first-team minutes elsewhere.
Arsenal’s Hale End is noted for regularly promoting talent, with the report saying the academy helped underpin success around the turn of the century via figures such as Tony Adams and Ray Parlour and now houses a promising group including Bukayo Saka, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ethan Nwaneri and Max Dowman. Still, the report says Arsenal have also lost prospects: Serge Gnabry joined as a 16-year-old but barely impacted before flourishing at Bayern Munich, and Eberechi Eze — the report identifies him as an Arsenal youth product — spent five years at the club before being released at 13, faced rejections elsewhere, earned a chance at Queens Park Rangers, starred at Crystal Palace for five years and then returned to Arsenal in a £60 million transfer last summer.
The report also recalls a striker named Cole, remembered as a leading English goalscorer and a member of Manchester United’s 1999 treble-winning squad, whose early career began with a single Arsenal first-team appearance as a 19-year-old in 1990 before a move to Bristol City; Arsenal therefore did not benefit from any of his 187 Premier League goals, the report says.
Atlético’s academy is described in the report as a central-midfield production line that produced homegrown players such as Koke, Gabi and Saúl Ñiguez, and even Fernando Torres. Meanwhile, the report says Real Madrid great Raúl spent two years at Atlético between 1990 and 1992 but left when that club temporarily closed its academy to “save costs,” a decision that preceded his long-term success at Real Madrid.
The report concludes that while clubs such as Manchester United and Liverpool rarely allow promising youth talent to slip away, many other big clubs have seen future stars depart their academies for careers elsewhere, underscoring the unpredictable nature of youth development, the report says.
