The last summer transfer window demonstrated this trend once again. Jacob Ramsey, a pure Aston Villa product, joined Newcastle for €52 million. James McAtee left Manchester City for Nottingham Forest for €35 million, while Tyler Morton was transferred from Liverpool to Olympique Lyonnais for around €10 million (+ €5 million in bonuses). These are significant sums for players who were trained at their clubs, some of whom have barely seen a first-team appearance. According to The Athletic, these sales of young players from Premier League academies generated nearly €2.2 billion (£1.9 billion) in sales, including €1.6 billion for the "Big Six," Newcastle and Aston Villa. The American media outlet explains this sum by the PSR (Profit & Sustainability Rules) regulation, which requires English clubs to limit losses to £105 million over 3 years and in which the sales of players trained at the club are recorded as immediate net accounting profit. As a result, young players help balance the books to stay within the PSR guidelines. And Academies become financial adjustment variables, failing to benefit their first teams in sporting terms. Apart from Arsenal (Bukayo Saka, Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Max Dowman), English squads have fewer and fewer homegrown players. Aston Villa (James Wright), Manchester United (Kobbie Mainoo) and Liverpool (Curtis Jones), for example, only have one this season.
Like James McAtee, who left Manchester City for Nottingham Forest for €35 million this summer, Premier League academies have earned €2.2 billion since 2020 / ©Icon Sport