Tyler Morton

[Tatterdemalion]

I'm pretty happy with the way the academy has developed. We regularly produce players who we can provide premiership experience to (which boosts their value), even if ultimately they don't become first team regulars. To do so, they really have to develop quickly into being amongst the top 200 players in the world and even that might not be enough. They develop sufficiently well to interest the likes of top tier teams in Europe (and even in England) and we get good fees for them which enables us to target top 100 players. They help strengthen the first team even if they don't make it past a few games. I get the sentiment, that the academy shouldn't be there just to create money, but at the same time it is good to monetise and optimise the output from it if the player can't make the first team better.

[peterbread]

I also like the new approach they’re taking of looking to sign the best talent from other clubs. Every season they look to bring in 1 or 2 of the best around. Nyoni and Rio being great examples. They may not be what some consider full academy products but they’ll save us a massive amount of money if they perform to the levels required.

[spud_gun]

Agree, I don’t think it’s getting wider unless you are comparing maybe to the 90s or earlier when the league was still majority British players.

I think what’s happening is England is producing very good national teams at youth level and other clubs are interested and know it’s hard for them to break through in the prem.

The next generation of English players also seem to be much more open to going abroad after the examples set by sancho, Bellingham etc who really broke through at Dortmund

Happening with Scottish players as well. Serie A seems to be the destination of choice at the moment and it's so refreshing to see. Instead highly touted youngsters joining the likes of Rangers or Celtic they're opting to go abroad.

The next Scottish player to move abroad will be Motherwell's 18 year old Lennon Miller. He's one of the highest regarded Scottish prospects in quite some time and the likes of Fiorentina & Udinese are after him.

[labourRed]

I agree.

You will get the occasional Oliver Burke but plenty of names could be mentioned who never left Glasgow and absolutely ruined their careers as a result.