Manchester United's squad has a higher percentage of homegrown players than any other team in Europe's top five leagues, and they play more minutes too.
Teams are always looking for the next big thing coming through their academy and that could be even more important in a post Covid-19 world, with clubs likely to have less money to spend on transfers.
According to the stats United are already using their academy pretty well, with Tifosy crunching the numbers, via Transfermarkt, to list the top 40 clubs in Europe, with 'homegrown' referring to players 'educated by the club.'
The likes of Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba and Scott McTominay have become integral to Solskjaer's side, although Pogba still cost the club a huge amount of money from Juventus.
Advert
Mason Greenwood has also started playing more first team football at the age of just 18-years-old whilst Andreas Pereira and Jesse Lingard have also played plenty of football for the Red Devils in the past year, despite some criticism from fans.
The Premier League side also led the way last season in England's top tier for the amount of minutes played by their academy products.
England's lack of success on the international scene in the past 54 years has often been blamed on a lack of minutes on the pitch for homegrown talent.
Advert
The team have been getting better and younger under Gareth Southgate and that is mirrored by the fact that the Premier League doesn't really trial rival leagues much when it comes to playing players from England.
Only the Bundesliga has a higher percentage of minutes for homegrown talent, although the German top tier does lead the way by quite a bit.
Southgate's team is filled with a lot of young players getting a lot of game time and another year of experience at the top tier could make them even better.
Advert
They made it to the semi finals of the World Cup two years ago, and last summer's Nations League, and the Three Lions' manager could have some big selection choices next year.
The likes of Greenwood, and Phil Foden at Manchester City, could be in line for more first team football next season and force their way in.
Which academy player would you like to see get more minutes at your club? Let us know in the comments.
Featured Image Credit:Topics:ย Paul Pogba, Football News, Chelsea, Manchester United, Serie A, Ligue 1, Premier League, Marcus Rashford, scott mctominay, Jesse Lingard, La Liga, Bundesliga