There are few clubs in European football that have as productive a youth system as Chelsea. First-team stars Reece James, Trevoh Chalobah, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Conor Gallagher, Mason Mount and Armando Broja were schooled at Cobham. Countless others are plying their trade at various levels across the world.
It's why, according to the CIES Football Observatory, the players whose talents were honed in Chelsea's academy are valued at an estimated €630million (£559.1million). It's a staggering figure but there is one club whose academy graduates are collectively worth more: Portuguese giants Benfica.
There are, based on CIES' research, more than 100 Benfica-taught players in the global game – and several of them represent Premier League clubs. Manchester City benefit through Ederson, Ruben Dias, and Bernardo Silva. Wolverhampton Wanderers own Jose Sa and Goncalo Guedes, although the latter is now back on loan at Benfica.
