{"id":6009,"date":"2020-12-09T19:43:36","date_gmt":"2020-12-09T19:43:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/?p=6009"},"modified":"2022-06-17T16:25:37","modified_gmt":"2022-06-17T15:25:37","slug":"column-the-pitfalls-when-evaluating-a-successful-academy-there-is-a-holistic-financial-model-that-tells-a-significant-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/column-the-pitfalls-when-evaluating-a-successful-academy-there-is-a-holistic-financial-model-that-tells-a-significant-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Column: The pitfalls when evaluating a successful academy\u2013 there is a holistic financial model that tells a significant story"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_three_fifth  avia-builder-el-first  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_three_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-1  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><div  style='padding-bottom:10px; ' class='av-special-heading av-special-heading-h2  blockquote modern-quote  avia-builder-el-2  avia-builder-el-no-sibling  thought-leadership-heading '><div class ='av-subheading av-subheading_above  ' style='font-size:15px;'><p>Thought Leadership<\/p>\n<\/div><h2 class='av-special-heading-tag '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Column: The pitfalls when evaluating a successful academy\u2013 there is a holistic financial model that tells a significant story <\/h2><div class='special-heading-border'><div class='special-heading-inner-border' ><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-3  el_after_av_three_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  \" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-4  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_three_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  av_inherit_color '  style='color:#80808a; '  itemprop=\"text\" ><h4><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\"><\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 9<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">MIN READ<\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n<section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock thought-leadership-author '   itemprop=\"text\" ><h3><strong>By Omar Chaudhuri<\/strong><\/h3>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Dec 20, 2020<\/h3>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n<div  style='height:5px' class='hr hr-invisible   avia-builder-el-7  el_after_av_textblock  avia-builder-el-last '><span class='hr-inner ' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div><\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_three_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-8  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><p><div  class='avia-image-container  av-styling-    avia-builder-el-9  el_before_av_hr  avia-builder-el-first  avia-align-center '  itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"  ><div class='avia-image-container-inner'><div class='avia-image-overlay-wrap'><img decoding=\"async\" class='wp-image-6010 avia-img-lazy-loading-not-6010 avia_image' src=\"https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/jack-grealish-villa-column-1.jpeg\" alt='' title='jack-grealish-villa-column (1)' height=\"535\" width=\"1120\"  itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/jack-grealish-villa-column-1.jpeg 1120w, https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/jack-grealish-villa-column-1-300x143.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/jack-grealish-villa-column-1-1030x492.jpeg 1030w, https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/jack-grealish-villa-column-1-768x367.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/jack-grealish-villa-column-1-705x337.jpeg 705w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1120px) 100vw, 1120px\" \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><br \/>\n<div  style='height:5px' class='hr hr-invisible   avia-builder-el-10  el_after_av_image  avia-builder-el-last '><span class='hr-inner ' ><span class='hr-inner-style'><\/span><\/span><\/div><\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-11  el_after_av_three_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-12  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_three_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock thought-leadership-share '   itemprop=\"text\" ><h3>Thought Leadership<\/h3>\n<p>Inspired by what you&#8217;re reading? Why not subscribe for regular insights delivered straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n<div  class='avia-button-wrap avia-button-left  avia-builder-el-14  el_after_av_textblock  el_before_av_textblock ' ><a href='https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/contact\/news-signup\/'  class='avia-button  avia-color-theme-color   avia-icon_select-no avia-size-small avia-position-left '   ><span class='avia_iconbox_title' >Subscribe<\/span><\/a><\/div><br \/>\n<section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><hr \/>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n<div  class='av-social-sharing-box  avia-builder-el-16  el_after_av_textblock  avia-builder-el-last  '><div class='av-share-box'><h5 class='av-share-link-description av-no-toc '>Share this story<\/h5><ul class='av-share-box-list noLightbox'><li class='av-share-link av-social-link-facebook' ><a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Share on Facebook\" href='https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/column-the-pitfalls-when-evaluating-a-successful-academy-there-is-a-holistic-financial-model-that-tells-a-significant-story\/&#038;t=Column%3A%20The%20pitfalls%20when%20evaluating%20a%20successful%20academy%E2%80%93%20there%20is%20a%20holistic%20financial%20model%20that%20tells%20a%20significant%20story' aria-hidden='false' data-av_icon='\ue8f3' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello' title='' data-avia-related-tooltip='Share on Facebook' rel=\"noopener\"><span class='avia_hidden_link_text'>Share on Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class='av-share-link av-social-link-twitter' ><a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Share on Twitter\" href='https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?text=Column%3A%20The%20pitfalls%20when%20evaluating%20a%20successful%20academy%E2%80%93%20there%20is%20a%20holistic%20financial%20model%20that%20tells%20a%20significant%20story&#038;url=https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/?p=6009' aria-hidden='false' data-av_icon='\ue8f1' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello' title='' data-avia-related-tooltip='Share on Twitter' rel=\"noopener\"><span class='avia_hidden_link_text'>Share on Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class='av-share-link av-social-link-linkedin' ><a target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"Share on LinkedIn\" href='https:\/\/linkedin.com\/shareArticle?mini=true&#038;title=Column%3A%20The%20pitfalls%20when%20evaluating%20a%20successful%20academy%E2%80%93%20there%20is%20a%20holistic%20financial%20model%20that%20tells%20a%20significant%20story&#038;url=https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/column-the-pitfalls-when-evaluating-a-successful-academy-there-is-a-holistic-financial-model-that-tells-a-significant-story\/' aria-hidden='false' data-av_icon='\ue8fc' data-av_iconfont='entypo-fontello' title='' data-avia-related-tooltip='Share on LinkedIn' rel=\"noopener\"><span class='avia_hidden_link_text'>Share on LinkedIn<\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_three_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-17  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock thought-leadership-main-content '  style='font-size:20px; '  itemprop=\"text\" ><p>&#8220;We don\u2019t say it\u2019s a business plan, it\u2019s a football programme,\u201d Ajax CEO Edwin van der Sar told The Guardian in September, speaking about the club\u2019s phenomenally successful academy. \u201cWe want our success with the players we educate. And if in two, three years we win trophies with them and they get a higher level, the interest of other clubs should be there. And those clubs should be bigger. After two to three years, it\u2019s time to move on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the past six seasons, almost no club has done this better than Ajax. They\u2019ve generated \u20ac342 million in reported transfer income from the sale of players who passed through their academy; nearly 50 per cent more than the next-best club, and only \u20ac50 million shy of the top-ranked club Benfica (who can thank Jo\u00e3o F\u00e9lix for a third of their income). The club has been able to increase its overall revenue by 42 per cent just through the sale of academy products.<\/p>\n<p>It may not be called a business plan, but it\u2019s a plan most businesses would be more than happy to replicate.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Clubs revisiting their spendings<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Ajax are rightly heralded as world-leaders in talent development. No one inside the club would doubt the value that their academy delivers; an ECA report from 2012 revealed that the club spent \u20ac6 million per year on their youth setup, meaning that even accounting for a potential rise in costs since then, the club has developed a hugely profitable operation.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-19  el_after_av_three_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-20  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_three_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_three_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-21  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><div  class='avia-image-container  av-styling-    avia-builder-el-22  avia-builder-el-no-sibling  avia-align-center '  itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"  ><div class='avia-image-container-inner'><div class='avia-image-overlay-wrap'><img decoding=\"async\" class='wp-image-6012 avia-img-lazy-loading-not-6012 avia_image' src=\"https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-05-at-19.41.49.png\" alt='' title='Screenshot 2021-05-05 at 19.41.49' height=\"1318\" width=\"2160\"  itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-05-at-19.41.49.png 2160w, https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-05-at-19.41.49-300x183.png 300w, https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-05-at-19.41.49-1030x628.png 1030w, https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-05-at-19.41.49-768x469.png 768w, https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-05-at-19.41.49-1536x937.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-05-at-19.41.49-2048x1250.png 2048w, https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-05-at-19.41.49-1500x915.png 1500w, https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-05-at-19.41.49-705x430.png 705w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2160px) 100vw, 2160px\" \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-23  el_after_av_three_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-24  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_three_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_three_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-25  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock thought-leadership-main-content '  style='font-size:20px; '  itemprop=\"text\" ><p>Most football clubs, however, cannot tell the same story as Ajax. Club CEOs often grapple with quantifying the return on investment in their academy. This is especially true in England, where clubs graded Category One in the Elite Player Performance Plan can expect to spend around \u00a33 million per year on their academy, with some of the biggest clubs often spending several times more.<\/p>\n<p>With the coronavirus pandemic putting a squeeze on top-line revenue, it is understandable that clubs are considering revisiting their spending in areas where the benefit can be hard to see. Just this week, Birmingham City announced that they \u201cwill be looking at remodelling the Academy system and exploring a \u201cB and C Team\u201d model\u201d despite having recently sold Jude Bellingham for a significant fee to Borussia Dortmund.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Debuts do not mean much in of themselves<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Then take the Blues\u2019 rivals Aston Villa, who since 2015 have recorded \u20ac14 million in sales of its academy products, or a little over \u20ac2 million a year. That places them 25th in English during this period, below clubs like Huddersfield Town, Fulham, and Swansea City. A superficial view of return on investment would suggest that Villa\u2019s academy simply isn\u2019t productive.<\/p>\n<p>In the absence of meaningful transfer income to assess academy \u2018productivity\u2019, the go-to statistics for academy managers are first team debuts and minutes. But this is not a conversation that can be easily grounded in objectivity; debuts do not mean much in of themselves, and playing time needs to be understood through the prism of performance and contribution to the team.<\/p>\n<p>This is of course particularly relevant for Aston Villa, with Jack Grealish being a product of the Bodymoor Heath academy. Grealish was pivotal in the club\u2019s Premier League survival last season, and his continued form this season has even invited comparisons with Paul Gascoigne. Aston Villa may not have sold Jack Grealish &#8211; despite numerous suitors &#8211; but that doesn\u2019t mean that their academy hasn\u2019t delivered a return on investment.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A healthy financial return<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Analytical models can begin to quantify this \u2018unrealised\u2019 value in a player. Specifically, we can ask: how much would it cost Aston Villa to acquire a player that delivers the same level of performance as Grealish, and how much more (or less) than this hypothetical player does Grealish cost?<\/p>\n<p>Our player model &#8211; which evaluates the performance and value of over 100,000 players globally &#8211; suggests that a like-for-like replacement for Grealish today would likely cost Villa in the region of a \u00a340 million transfer fee, and a further \u00a34.5 million per year in wages. After amortising the fee over four\u00a0years (a typical contract length), we\u2019d expect Grealish\u2019s replacement to cost \u00a314.5 million a year, substantially more than Grealish\u2019s reported \u00a37 million salary.<\/p>\n<p>Though Aston Villa have not sold Grealish, it is likely that they\u2019re getting a healthy financial return on their academy in the 2020\/21 season, after accounting for the ongoing operating costs of the academy this year.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve performed this analysis for all Premier League clubs in the 2019\/20 season, and combined it with transfer fees received to get a holistic view on academy return on investment. Unsurprisingly, it is the biggest clubs in the country that record the biggest estimated \u2018savings\u2019 from their academy; it costs a club like Manchester United a significant amount of money to acquire a first team player, so a starter who comes from the academy with typically much lower wages and without a transfer fee is going to represent a significant cost saving.<\/p>\n<p>We estimate that Manchester United\u2019s player costs last season would have been nearly \u00a360 million higher were it not for their academy, such were the performance levels and costs of Marcus Rashford, Scott McTominay, and Mason Greenwood in particular.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-27  el_after_av_three_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-28  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_three_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_three_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-29  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><div  class='avia-image-container  av-styling-    avia-builder-el-30  avia-builder-el-no-sibling  avia-align-center '  itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"  ><div class='avia-image-container-inner'><div class='avia-image-overlay-wrap'><img decoding=\"async\" class='wp-image-6013 avia-img-lazy-loading-not-6013 avia_image' src=\"https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-05-at-19.41.35.png\" alt='' title='Screenshot 2021-05-05 at 19.41.35' height=\"1274\" width=\"2160\"  itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-05-at-19.41.35.png 2160w, https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-05-at-19.41.35-300x177.png 300w, https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-05-at-19.41.35-1030x608.png 1030w, https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-05-at-19.41.35-768x453.png 768w, https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-05-at-19.41.35-1536x906.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-05-at-19.41.35-2048x1208.png 2048w, https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-05-at-19.41.35-1500x885.png 1500w, https:\/\/www.twentyfirstgroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screenshot-2021-05-05-at-19.41.35-705x416.png 705w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2160px) 100vw, 2160px\" \/><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-31  el_after_av_three_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-32  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_three_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_three_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-33  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-34  el_after_av_three_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding first  avia-builder-el-35  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_three_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex_column av_three_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-36  el_after_av_one_fifth  el_before_av_one_fifth  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><p><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock thought-leadership-block-blue '   itemprop=\"text\" ><p><strong>Leicester and Tottenham are different examples<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Adjusting for overall cost bases, both Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City rank well too, though in different ways. Harry Kane accounts for roughly 75 per cent\u00a0of Spurs\u2019 \u00a344 million in savings last season; we estimate that a player of his level would cost the club over \u00a3100 million in transfer fees and \u00a314 million a year in wages. One year of Harry Kane performance pays for the academy several years over.<\/p>\n<p>Leicester City meanwhile spread their \u00a320 million in academy savings across four players: Ben Chillwell, Harvey Barnes, Hamza Choudhury, and Luke Thomas. In 2020\/21 their savings will fall with Chillwell\u2019s sale, though clearly this is more than compensated for with the reported \u00a345 million transfer fee &#8211; combining these figures allows a club to get a holistic view on their total academy ROI for the year.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Razor-focused on understanding return on investment<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Southampton, meanwhile, continued their balance of having academy players contributing significantly in their first team &#8211; most notably James Ward-Prowse &#8211; while also generating revenue from player sales. The club will always attract headlines for the fees it has and will receive for its homegrown talent, but it would be remiss to overlook the huge value those players have added to the club on the field over the years.<\/p>\n<p>For the next few years at least, clubs will be razor-focused on understanding return on investment, and even before Covid no area of a club caused more debate about ROI than its academy. Our collective obsession with transfer fees means we will always tend to be drawn into narratives about academy productivity from a pure, tangible monetary perspective.<\/p>\n<p>But as we know, players aren\u2019t simply assets to be traded, and some of the most important academy players may never sell for a fee. The smartest clubs are therefore finding ways to quantify this, and as a result will be able to realise even greater benefits from their youth setup.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n<section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/BlogPosting\" itemprop=\"blogPost\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><p><em>This article was originally posted in <a href=\"https:\/\/offthepitch.com\/a\/column-pitfalls-when-evaluating-successful-academy-there-holistic-financial-model-tells\">Off The Pitch<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/p><\/div><div class=\"flex_column av_one_fifth  flex_column_div av-zero-column-padding   avia-builder-el-39  el_after_av_three_fifth  el_before_av_codeblock  column-top-margin\" style='border-radius:0px; '><\/div><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":6011,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54,52,33],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.0 - 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