Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool: Europe's top clubs with most academy player minutes in 2021/22

Making use of academy and homegrown players is vital for top clubs with elite players only becoming more expensive.

While we as fans are used to seeing the biggest teams in European football splash the cash, the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Barcelona and many others have earned a reputation for having exceptional academies.

And that’s without considering Arsenal, Liverpool and even Manchester City, who have joined the race in recent years alongside their rise to prominence.

Fans love the excitement of expensive transfers, but there’s nothing that beats a good academy success story.

From the ‘Class of 92’ to the endless stars that have come out of La Masia, every top club wants that fairytale, but the reality is it’s a very difficult one to achieve.

We see it every few years. A club’s current academy crop gets hyped up and touted for big things, only for most of them to unfortunately not meet the expectations. In reality, though, if clubs can get one, or perhaps two players that make the first team following graduation from the academy, it’s a good return.

Breaking into the first team at a ‘leading’ club in Europe, then, is understandably difficult. But there are clubs who have made a considerable effort to make use of their talented academy representatives and continue to do so, which was monitored over the 2021/22 season.

A graphic produced by The Athletic has gathered interest over on Reddit, detailing the ‘leading European clubs’ who gave the most minutes to academy players last season. And with one eye on the 2022/23 campaign which is merely weeks away, the table provides a good insight as to what to perhaps expect from teams next season.

Taking data from some of the most popular clubs within Europe’s top