4 days ago
Premier League to see ‘exciting period' for homegrown players: Expert
PA Media/dpa
London
Chelsea's successful end to the season is a sign of what is to come from the Premier League's youth development system, according to a leading sports scientist.
The Blues qualified for the Champions League with the lowest average age of starting players in the Premier League era, 24 years and 36 days, and also won the Conference League.
The Premier League partnered with sport science company Kitman Labs in October 2023 to launch the Football Intelligence Platform, a centralized hub for performance and medical data which forms a key part of the league's Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP).
Academy product Reece James is Chelsea's club captain and another EPPP graduate, Cole Palmer, inspired their Conference League final success. Liverpool, meanwhile, used seven homegrown players in their romp to the Premier League title.
Kitman Labs chief executive Stephen Smith told the PA news agency on Monday: 'It's only the last couple of years that we're starting to see kids who have come through a full pathway and been supported by the EPPP.
'Even in the last week, look at Cole Palmer and the role he played in Chelsea's success. We have younger players coming through that are capable of playing at a higher level much earlier, much more consistently.
'I think we're only at the beginning. As we continue to bring players through these pathways, we're going to continue to see homegrown players playing first-team minutes. I think it's a really exciting period for the Premier League and UK football.' Palmer was signed after coming through Manchester City's academy, which ranked second in this year's PA news agency academy study behind Chelsea as they developed their own significant contributors in James, Trevoh Chalobah and Levi Colwill.
A total of 20 Chelsea graduates played Premier League football this season, with Tino Livramento, Marc Guehi and Ola Aina surpassing 3,000 minutes for other clubs.
The sales of players such as Lewis Hall and Mason Mount, and others outside the Premier League such as AC Milan's on-loan Roma striker Tammy Abraham, has helped fund Chelsea owner Todd Boehly and co's spending spree.
'It's 100% part of the same thing,' said Smith.
'These are interesting stats but alongside that, how many Premier League (academy graduates) are playing first-team minutes in other leagues? Tammy Abraham is not playing in the Premier League any more but he's one of a number of world-class players who have come through the academy system.
'I think that shows you how sustainable the model of investing in the academy system is. It's not just generating players for their first team, it's also generating sales and revenue.
'When you think about the importance of (profit and sustainability rules), having a club that's developing revenue through their academy network that is supporting the first team is a dream for any club.'
