Manchester United’s academy graduates played more than 27,000 minutes during the 2018-19 Premier League season – almost 10,000 more than any other club.
According to research by PA Sport, 20 players who finished playing youth football at the club featured in the top flight during last season.
Including the likes of Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard, they accumulated 27,395 minutes.
Tottenham are second with their 13 graduates amassing 17,903 minutes.
Meanwhile, 16 Southampton academy graduates, including United’s Luke Shaw and Fulham’s Calum Chambers, played 15,964 minutes, putting them just ahead of Chelsea in the standings in third.
Portuguese sides were the only clubs from outside English football to reach the top 10.
| Clubs whose academy graduates played the most Premier League minutes during 2018-19 | |
|---|---|
| Club | Total minutes (number of players) |
| Manchester United | 27,395 (20) |
| Tottenham | 17,903 (13) |
| Southampton | 15,964 (16) |
| Chelsea | 15,870 (9) |
| Manchester City | 13,605 (8) |
| Sheffield United | 12,400 (6) |
| Liverpool | 12,104 (6) |
| Benfica | 11,032 (5) |
| West Ham | 10,608 (8) |
| Sporting Lisbon | 10,127 (5) |
It is the third year in a row that United have topped the standings as the “leading developers of Premier League talent”, according to PA Sport’s data, despite their graduates’ playing time dropping year on year.
More than a third of United’s minutes were accumulated by players still at the club, who helped Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team finish sixth in the league.
In addition, Joshua King, Michael Keane and Craig Cathcart played more than 3,000 minutes for Bournemouth, Everton and Watford respectively, while Burnley trio Tom Heaton, Phil Bardsley and Robbie Brady – who all began their careers at Old Trafford – amassed more than 4,400 minutes.
Consistent Blades and the rise of the Portuguese
Sheffield United have been a permanent fixture in the top 10 of the standings for the last three seasons, placing eighth in 2016-17 and fifth the following season – despite only being promoted to the Premier League themselves this summer.
They placed sixth in the 2018-19 study, largely helped by Wales midfielder David Brooks playing 2,400 minutes for Bournemouth.
Kyle Walker, Harry Maguire, Phil Jagielka, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Matt Lowton and Kyle Naughton also contributed to the Blades’ statistics.
Elsewhere, Coventry jumped 113 places to reach the top 20 with Leicester midfielder James Maddison, Wolves defender Cyrus Christie and Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson all playing regularly for their clubs.
While Ajax and Feyenoord have previously been the best represented clubs from outside Europe, last season was the turn of Portuguese sides to enter the top 10 with Benfica and Sporting Lisbon’s graduates amassing 11,032 and 10,127 Premier League minutes respectively.
Manchester City’s Ederson and Bernardo Silva, in addition to Wolves pair Helder Costa and Ivan Cavaleiro and Everton’s Andre Gomes are Benfica academy products, while Wolves’ Rui Patricio and Joao Moutinho graduated from Sporting’s academy.
