There are clubs in the world that make a profit from their academy, but none is as beneficial as Benfica. The Portuguese club has a knack for creating players and sending them all over Europe. That now comes with some of the world’s players. Notable exports from Benfica’s academy come from Joao Cancelo, Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias and Gonçalo Ramos.
In terms of profits generated over the past 10 years, Benfica has raised more money than any club. This applies to players between the ages of 15 and 21 who have spent at least 3 years at their respective clubs. In words, this applies to academy players moving elsewhere.
Most people might think that clubs like Barcelona are on this list. However, it is the Portuguese club that tops the list. In addition, Barcelona is ranked 22nd, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Dinamo Zagreb. In addition, Ajax and Lyon rank second and third in terms of player sales outside the academy over the past 10 years.
With the recent successes of Benfica’s academy, it is clear why the club is so profitable. Benfica’s most expensive move for Joao Felix when he signed for Atletico Madrid. The Spanish team paid the colossal sum of $135 million. This is the fourth most expensive play in football history.
One of Benfica’s other major sales includes Ruben Dias for $75 million. Dias and Felix, like many other players, have made up Benfica’s advertising fortune over the past five years. The Football Observatory, which collected data on academy sales, noted that 68% of Benfica’s sales from academy player movements have come from the last five years. Benfica has sold players worth $367 million in the last five years. Combining the $200 million of the previous five years, Benfica has raised $567 million since 2014.
The most impressive thing is the gap between Benfica and the clubs. The $567 million in player sales is more than $150 million more than Ajax’s. Despite the sale of Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong for $168 million, Ajax’s total sales over the past 10 years amount to $413 million.
Although Benfica, Ajax and Lyon have not been lucky enough to fit in with the talent coming out of the academy, some clubs have had luck on the field by distributing players for significant profits. None of them is more recognizable than Real Madrid. Los Blancos rank fourth in terms of academy sales profits over the last 10 years.
Rounding out the top five is Chelsea, but most of those efforts have come in the last five years. Of Chelsea’s $380 million in academy sales over the past decade, $337 million was earned after 2019. This coincides with the big change of players who have taken a position at Stamford Bridge since Todd Boehly took over.
Chelsea is one of three teams from the Premier League that is in the top 10. The other two are Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City. The first club from outside Europe is Flamengo from Brazil. Flamengo is 13th in this list of academy sales over the last 10 years. Pachuca is the only club in the top 100 from North America. The Mexican side has amassed $64 million in sales. That is more than clubs like RB Leipzig and Lens, both of which are in the UEFA Champions League.
PHOTOS: IMAGO.