Talent Factories: The clubs that have developed the most players going to the World Cup
- A new study explores the complete club history of every player going to the World Cup to determine which clubs show the most faith in youth talent.
- Sporting Lisbon are an international talent factory, having produced the MOST players going to the World Cup across all professional leagues.
- Man Utd come first in England, followed by the rest of the big six. Surprisingly, Leeds United, Sheffield United, Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland place higher than every other Premier League club.
Following the confirmation of every nation’s 23 man World Cup squad on Monday, the data analysts at BetVictor have analysed the career history of every player on their way to Russia to determine which club does the best job in nurturing youth talent.
And the results highlight the quality of coaching at Sporting Lisbon. Having brought on the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Eric Dier and the in-demand William Carvalho, the Portuguese talent factory is the club to have developed the MOST players going to the 2018 World Cup.
Placing fourth in the development table, credit must also go to Barcelona. They have nurtured an incredible wealth of talent over the years, handing senior contracts to the likes of Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Pepe Reina, and the talismanic Lionel Messi.
Representing England, Manchester United came 6th on the list, having been the first club to the international talent of Paul Pogba, Gerard Pique and the much improved Jesse Lingard.
The top 10 clubs who have developed the most players is as follows:
| Rank | Club | Senior Contracts | Stand out player |
| 1 | Sporting Lisbon | 12 | Cristiano Ronaldo |
| 2 | Deportivo Saprissa | 11 | Keylor Navas |
| 3 | Dinamo Zagreb | 9 | Luka Modrić |
| 4 | Barcelona* | 8 | Lionel Messi |
| 5 | Defensor Sporting | 7 | Martín Cáceres |
| – | Al Ahly SC | 7 | Ramadan Sobhi |
| 6 | Manchester United | 6 | Paul Pogba |
| – | VfB Stuttgart | 6 | Mario Gomez |
| 7 | Lyon | 5 | Samuel Umtiti |
| – | América | 5 | Raúl Jiménez |
*Combines Barcelona and Barcelona B players.
Focusing on just the clubs from England and despite the stereotype that big clubs don’t invest in youth, the ‘big six’ are all placed within the top six places for awarding the brightest young players with senior contracts.
Outside of the big six, the only other Premier League clubs whose alumni are now on their way to Russia are Watford (Ashley Young) and Crystal Palace (Victor Moses).
The top 10 England specific development table is as follows:
| Rank | Club | Senior Contracts | Stand out player |
| 1 | Manchester United | 6 | Paul Pogba |
| 2 | Arsenal | 5 | Alex Iwobi |
| 3 | Manchester City | 4 | Kasper Schmeichel |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 3 | Harry Kane |
| – | Chelsea | 3 | Ruben Loftus-Cheek |
| 5 | Liverpool | 2 | Raheem Sterling |
| – | Sheffield United | 2 | Kyle Walker |
| – | Leeds United | 2 | Fabian Delph |
| – | Blackburn Rovers | 2 | Phil Jones |
| – | Sunderland | 2 | Jordan Henderson |
The above table could have looked a lot different – due to circumstances outside their control, Southampton would have placed very highly, having been the first club to the likes of Liverpool’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Adam Lallana and four time Champions League winner Gareth Bale.
To view the full set of data for yourself, please visit: