Suprise Premier League club has the most top young players

If anyone needed any further evidence that Brighton and Hove Albion are several steps ahead of the pack in the transfer market, it arrived this week in an academic study of the most valuable young players in world football.

The list, compiled by the CIES Football Observatory, ranked the 100 most valuable players aged under 21. Barcelona’s 17-year-old wonderkid Lamine Yamal is top of the pile, followed by Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho and Warren Zaire-Emery of Paris Saint-Germain.

But the team with the most players in the top 100? Only bargain-hunters extraordinaire Brighton, who have parlayed owner Tony Bloom’s background in sports betting into a peerless data-centric recruitment strategy.

They have six players in the list, two more than any other club, the most expensive of whom is Republic of Ireland striker Evan Ferguson, valued by CIES at €61.4m (£51.1m). The 20-year-old would represent a huge profit if sold, having joined from Dublin-based Bohemians aged 16. 

Other Brighton players in the list include Cameroon midfielder Carlos Baleba and Gambia winger Yankuba Minteh, who are both valued at just over $50m (£40m). 

The remaining Seagulls in the top 100 are homegrown defender Jack Hinshelwood, Paraguay forward Julio Enciso and German-Albanian winger Brajan Gruda. 

Bloom and Brighton have turned recruitment into an art form since their return to England’s top division in 2017, repeatedly turning inexpensive signings into lucrative sales.

Their 10 most expensive outgoing transfers have all taken place in the last four years and have raised more than £300m in total. They include Moises Caicedo and Marc Cucurella moving to Chelsea for a combined £170m and Ben White’s £50m switch to Arsenal.

Brighton have shown their willingness to recruit young talent from obscure markets, such as Japan winger Kaoru Mitoma and Ivory Coast forward Simon Adingra. That strategy extends to the dugout, where they have the Premier League’s youngest manager, Fabian Hurzeler, 31.

That approach is set for its ultimate test this weekend when Manchester City visit the Amex Stadium, although the champions are on their worst losing streak since 2018 having fallen to defeat in consecutive games against Tottenham, Bournemouth and Sporting Lisbon.