La Liga leads Europe in talent development

La Liga has revealed the results of a comprehensive analysis of the economic and sporting value of Spanish club academies, confirming that Spanish football has become the leading European reference in the field of creating and developing young talent. The report showed that the market value of players who grew up in Spanish academies reached approximately €1.46 billion, clearly outperforming all major European leagues. The English Premier League came in second place with €1.07 billion, followed by the German Bundesliga with €960 million, the Italian League with €890 million, and the French Ligue 1 with €760 million. The report also indicated that La Liga clubs allocated 19.8% of total playing time to their homegrown talents during the 2024-25 season, the highest percentage among all European leagues, reflecting confidence in the abilities of young players and their role in competing at the highest levels. During the summer of 2025, Spanish clubs set a new record in revenues from the sale of domestic players, amounting to €289 million, confirming the success of the strategy of investing in academies as a primary source of sporting and economic sustainability. The analysis indicated that the percentage of transfer revenues from players graduating from Spanish academies increased over the past five years from 27% to 45%, clearly outperforming their counterparts in Germany (31%), Italy (28%), France, and England. The report also noted that these results are not limited to top clubs such as Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​but also include medium- and small-sized clubs, reflecting a comprehensive structural development within the La Liga system. The Spanish experience is receiving increasing global attention, with leagues and federations from countries such as Iraq and China, as well as institutions from Latin America, beginning to communicate with La Liga to exchange expertise in the field of talent development and academy management. According to the association, these indicators confirm that investing in local talent has become a strategic pillar that distinguishes Spanish football, and reinforces its position as one of the world's most successful models in combining athletic performance with economic sustainability.