A report has revealed how much money Man Utd have raised from selling academy players over the previous 10 years.
Alejandro Garnacho
Alejandro Garnacho is United's most profitable academy sale over the last 10 years(Image: Manchester United via Getty)
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Manchester United made €271million (£189million) from selling academy graduates over the last decade, a new report has revealed. That ranked United 19th among the world's most profitable academies since the start of July 2016.
The CIES Football Observatory report ranked Benfica as the world's most productive academy, with sales totalling €589 million over the last 10 years, followed by Ajax in second place.
United were fourth for Premier League clubs, behind Chelsea (€442m), Manchester City (€404m) and Aston Villa (€303m). The report also looked at sales over the last five years, with United ranked seventh, but still behind the three Premier League clubs above them.
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The £40million United raised from selling Alejandro Garnacho was their highest academy sale in the last 10 years, although they were the buying club in some of the other top-ranked deals. The biggest sales for Chelsea (Mason Mount), Atalanta (Amad) and RB Leipzig (Benjamin Sesko) all involved players signing for United.
United have started to cash in on academy graduates more recently, with James Garner's £15million move to Everton in the summer of 2022 starting a trend. They have since sold Anthony Elanga (£15m), Scott McTominay (£30m) and Alvaro Fernandez (£5m), with all of them going on to impress once they had left Old Trafford.
Other youngsters sold recently include Mason Greenwood, Matej Kovar and Hannibal Mejbri and Ineos have identified the academy as an area for improvement for United, both in terms of producing players and making sales to raise funds, something considered vital in an era of financial fair play rules.
The CIES report categorised academy players as anyone who had spent at least three seasons at a club between the ages of 15 and 21, and the figures used included add-ons. regardless of whether they had been triggered or not.