Dinamo Zagreb Ranked 4th in Europe for Producing Home-Grown Footballers

Dinamo Zagreb are among the Top 5 football clubs in Europe with the most amount of home-grown footballers in their squads, according to the latest CIES Football Observatory report…

The report ranked 460 teams of 31 top division leagues in UEFA member associations who trained the most players active in the leagues. At the top of the overall table is Partizan Belgrade (78 players trained), followed by Ajax Amsterdam (75 players), FC Barcelona (62) and Dinamo Zagreb in fourth spot with 53 players.

Dinamo Zagreb is not the only Croatian side in the Top 10 with Hajduk Split ranked in 7th spot with 49 players. Real Madrid were in 13th place on the list, whilst English giants Manchester United were 4th.

According to UEFA’s definition, club-trained players are footballers who have been at least three seasons between the ages of 15 and 21 at the club. The relative presence of this category of players in squads has steadily decreased from 23.1% in 2009 to only 19.7% in 2015.

The International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) is an independent study centre located in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. It was created in 1995 as a joint venture between the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the University of Neuchâtel, the City and State of Neuchatel.

Rankings
1. Partizan – 78
2. Ajax – 75
3. Barcelona –
4. DINAMO ZAGREB – 53
4. Sporting – 53
6. Dynamo Kiev – 52
7. HAJDUK – 49
7. Red Star – 49
9. Feyenoord – 46
9. Porto – 46
11. Sparta Prague – 45
12. Shahktar – 44
13. Real Madrid – 43
14. Levski Sofia – 41
14. Manchester United – 41