Liverpool academy director Alex Inglethorpe has claimed that the Reds currently have around £300 million worth of academy talent within their ranks.
The Premier League leaders have been challenging strongly across all fronts this term, and some of their academy products are to be thanked for the quality squad depth they have given manager Jurgen Klopp.
The likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones, Caoimhin Kelleher, Jarell Quansah and Conor Bradley have established themselves as key players for the senior team in recent seasons, and six former or current academy players aged 21 or under featured on Wednesday night as Liverpool blew Luton Town away.
Bobby Clark, Jayden Danns (who was making his debut) and James McConnell came on to join Bradley, Quansah and Kelleher on the pitch, and Inglethorpe believes no value can be put on having academy products step up to the first-team.
“There is always a lot of understandable emphasis on the number of appearances by academy players, but from a purely business perspective no-one talks about the spending,” the Liverpool chief told the Telegraph.
“There are some academies spending £40 million a year. We are nearer £13 million. If you think of £130 million over 10 years, what is the return on that investment? We have sold about £160 million worth of academy talent.
“We’ve been studying it and we estimate there is about £300 million of academy talent in this building. That can fluctuate, of course, but if you look at Jarell (Quansah), he is our fourth-choice centre-back this season. He ensured the club did not have to sign another centre-back last summer. What value do you put on that?
“A Premier League squad player is between £15 million–£25 million, and the average Premier League wage is £60,000 a week. So if you have three academy boys on the bench it could save somewhere in the region of £70 million a year.”
Liverpool have had some serious talents emerge from their academy recently, and Inglethorpe will be hoping more can be produced in the coming years.
There are very few Premier League clubs that can boast of having six former or current academy players aged 21 or under on the pitch for a league game, and while not all of their academy players will make the grade, the Reds know they can make some serious profit anytime they cash in on them.
Given that selling academy products represents pure profit in Financial Fair Play terms, Liverpool have nothing to worry about when it comes to keeping in line with profit and sustainability rules, and their academy talent could be worth £500m within the next few years at this rate.
