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Developing world-class players is every football club’s ultimate pipe dream. Every established club send scouts across countries and even continents to sign young players and try their best to unlock their potential.
In reality, very few clubs regularly strike gold. Even fewer manage to hold on to their academy stars or manage to give them the attention they deserve.
From buyout clauses to fractured relationships with players due to lack of game time, the reasons behind immature player sales are aplenty.
Today, we will take a look at five football clubs that successfully developed high-profile players, but did not or could not keep them.
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Here are five football clubs that have earned the most by selling their academy stars since July 2015:
Special note: Only players who have been at the club’s academy for more than three years have been considered for this list.
Stats via: CIES Football Observatory
#5 Olympique Lyon (France) – €270 million
Ligue 1 outfit Lyon have established themselves as one of the most respected football clubs in the world. Not only do they play a brand of football that pretty much everyone can get behind, but they also tend to develop top-drawer players on cue.
Since their inception, Lyon have always prioritized giving youth a chance. This policy does not exactly guarantee success in the top competitions, but it surely makes the club a lucrative place to be at for youngsters.
The French club have given us some exceptional players over the last seven years, including Alexandre Lacazette, Samuel Umtiti, Nabil Fekir, and Anthony Martial. While every player on that list is beaming with quality, it is the Arsenal no. 9 who stands out, thanks to his handsome transfer fee.
Lacazette, who was signed by Arsenal for a €53 million fee in 2017, rose through Lyon’s academy system to make his first-team debut in 2010. Between 2010 and 2017, Lacazette played 275 games for Les Gones, scoring 129 goals.
#4 AFC Ajax (Netherlands) – €283 million
Once led by the great Johan Cruyff himself, Ajax arguably possess the most recognizable youth system in the world. Every player in the academy goes through rigorous training, understanding the nitty-gritty of the game we all love.
As a result, the academy graduates are not only excellent footballers, but they are also a tad sharper with their footballing brains.
The transfer of Frenkie de Jong to Barcelona has earned them the most money (€86 million) in history. And while he did play for Ajax’s U21 team, he cannot be considered their youth graduate since he spent his formative years at Willem II.
Matthijs de Ligt, who remains the club’s youngest captain in history, is their most valuable departure. Having made 117 appearances for Ajax, the centre-back left for Juventus for an €85.5 million fee in 2019.
The likes of Donny van de Beek and Justin Kluivert also rose through Ajax's famed academy before moving elsewhere.
#3 AS Monaco (France) – €285 million
Much like Lyon, AS Monaco have a knack for giving proper exposure to their young talents. Their coaches have always kept faith in the youngsters and have often been rewarded with excellent results.
Under Leonardo Jardim, AS Monaco achieved unfathomable success in the 2016-17 season. Not only did they stop Paris Saint-Germain's Ligue 1 juggernaut, but they also reached the Champions League semi-finals.
The star of the show was a certain Kylian Mbappe, who was understandably snapped up by PSG at the end of the season.
Having scored 26 goals and provided 14 assists in 44 games across competitions that season, Mbappe emerged as the hottest young player in Europe. PSG, who had just triggered Neymar’s €222 million release clause in the summer of 2017 could not afford to buy Mbappe in the same window.
So, they got him on loan, with a mandatory €145 million purchase option, which they triggered in 2018.
#2 Real Madrid (Spain) – €330 million
Unlike the other four on the list, Real Madrid are not a selling club. They are the most decorated team in Europe and have a knack for splashing a ridiculous amount of money to sign their favorite players. So, while money has never been an issue for them, they rarely manage to guarantee regular exposure to their academy graduates.
Los Blancos’ insatiable desire for success does not bode well for their youngsters, as they rarely get opportunities to prove their mettle. As a result, the Whites end up selling most of their ambitious youngsters to the highest bidders.
Like numerous academy graduates before him, Alvaro Morata also did not manage to establish himself as a first-team regular. The Spaniard was not happy playing second fiddle to Karim Benzema and asked the club for a transfer.
He moved to Juventus in 2014 before returning to Real Madrid two seasons later. At the end of the 2016-17 season, the Spanish giants once again sold him, this to Chelsea for €66 million.
Unfortunately, he did not quite thrive at Stamford Bridge and was eventually shipped off to Los Blancos’ rival club, Atletico Madrid, in 2019. He is currently on loan at Juventus.
#1 SL Benfica (Portugal) – €379 million
Portuguese club SL Benfica have earned a whopping €379 million from player sales since the summer of 2015. They are one of the most successful clubs in the country, winning five league titles in the last eight years.
Benfica generally refrain from selling their talents to local rivals, but are a lot more open to doing business with foreign clubs.
In July 2019, La Liga giants Atletico Madrid went all out for Benfica’s Joao Felix. They paid a whopping €127.2 million for his services, making the youngster both Benfica’s most valuable departure and Atletico’s most expensive signing in history.
The young Portuguese played only 43 games for Benfica’s first team, registering 20 goals and 11 assists. Spending €127.2 million on the teenager was a gamble at the time, and critics claim Los Rojiblancos haven’t got their money’s worth yet.
