Ajax training produces the most players for the 31 European competitions at the highest level in Europe. There are currently 85 players active in Europe who, aged between 15 and 21, have spent at least three years training with the Amsterdam club. Eight of them still play at Ajax.

This figure comes from the CIES Football Observatory, a Swiss research agency that writes reports on football. Second on the list is Benfica (73 players), Dinamo Kyiv (72) is third.

The criterion for players is that they were under contract with a club from one of the 31 top European competitions on October 1, 2022 and also played games there or at least played in the past two seasons. . Games for youth or reserve teams do not count.

After Ajax, Feyenoord is the highest-ranking Dutch club: the Rotterdammers have 42 players. PSV (35), AZ (34), Twente (29) and SC Heerenveen (25) are also on the list. Ajax were again the club with the most players in top-level competitions in Europe last year. Then there were about 81 players. Feyenoord then did slightly better at 49 than in this year’s edition.

A list of clubs providing players for the five largest leagues (Spain, England, Italy, Germany and France) has also been drawn up. Real Madrid tops this list, ahead of FC Barcelona. Ajax provided nineteen players for the big countries, Feyenoord eight. River Plate stands out in this list. The Argentine club fielded fourteen players for the top European competitions. while he himself plays on another continent.