Top 10 football academies in the world in 2018

#8 Santos

Pele and Neymar were produced by Santos FC

14th April 1912. That's the day when the huge Titanic met a tragic end following a collision with an iceberg, subsequently drowning in the sea and swallowing thousands of lives.

However, the same day also saw the establishment of FC Santos, a football club 50 miles from Sao Paolo in Brazil; a football club that would gain worldwide recognition for churning out exquisite footballing talent.

Across the world, the Brazilian club has 92 youth academies bearing its name. The fact that 10% of the total annual income is invested into their youth academy is a testament to their attempts to produce young talented players.

Santos have proudly claimed to have scored over 12000 goals in their 106-year history - a result of the free-flowing attack-minded philosophy that is followed at the club.

Apart from producing a plethora of world-class talents, Santos is also credited for producing one of the greatest footballers the game has ever seen, the man who renamed football as 'The Beautiful Game' - Pele.

After his legendary exploits, Santos saw a rise in their popularity as an institution that promotes young stars. Fair to say, the club hasn't disappointed in producing raw talent since then.

Notable Alumni: Neymar, Pele, Robinho.

Upcoming talents: Thiago Maia, Diogo Vitor, Emerson.