The VCF Academy has been named amongst the five best youth systems in Europe, in the November 2020 publication by the CIES Football Observatory. The study ranks the clubs to have produced the most players competing at the highest level in Europe’s five biggest leagues: Spain, England, France, Italy and Germany.
For the second consecutive year, Valencia CF are fifth in quantitative terms, with a total of 28 players having spent at least three years at the Ciudad Deportiva between the age of 15-21 and now featuring at elite level around the continent.
The club have added four more players to their total this year, raising the number of talents provided to the ‘Big 5’ from 24 to 28. This brings their figure closer to a series of sides tied in second place.
The VCF Academy climbs to fourth in the CIES Football Observatory’s points-based ranking of the top youth systems in Europe, which is based on the number of games contested by each player, their age and the level of the club at which they were trained. This produces a valuation that is not only quantitative, but also qualitative.
This ranking once again shows the good job being done at the VCF Academy to provide players prepared for first team football at Valencia CF, or capable of generating resources for the club.