Agent Work: Do Teams Trust Their U21 Players?

Recently, we have seen footballers flourish at ridiculously young ages. At the time, we were surprised when Birmingham retired the number 22 jersey of a certain Jude Bellingham after his transfer to Borussia Dortmund. The retirement of the number only emphasized the shock generated by the transfer fee.

That has changed. We have become accustomed to seeing top teams field multiple young players in their starting lineups and to these players commanding generous transfer fees. One could even say clubs like Real Madrid or Manchester City, whose big-money signings in the past have worked as a wake-up call for the rest of the elite teams, are now focused on becoming the go-to destinations for emerging young talent. The signings of Vinicius, Rodrygo, or Camavinga reflect Real Madrid’s new policy: recruiting players before their individual market booms.

So far this season, 487 players aged 21 or younger have played at least one minute in one of Europe’s five major leagues. That’s 72 more than in the entire previous season (415). Interestingly, in both seasons, five teams did not field a single U21 player.

If you were the agent of a young footballer, you should know how to answer this question: Which teams give the most opportunities to young players?

First, in terms of quantity, you should know that 53 teams have used five or more U21 players in their respective leagues so far this season. Last season, only 38 teams reached these numbers.

Among those 53 teams this season, five clubs have used more than 10 U21 players: Strasbourg, Stade Reims, Nice, Montpellier, and Barcelona. That’s two more than last season, when Chelsea, Stade Reims, and Strasbourg were the only three teams that gave league minutes to more than 10 U21s. It doesn’t take a genius to see that young players get considerable playing time in France.

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On the other end of the spectrum, we find the five teams that haven’t given any minutes to U21 players: Rayo Vallecano, Osasuna, Napoli, Leganés, and Holstein Kiel. In LaLiga, 15% of the teams are yet to use a player aged 21 or under.

Now let’s talk in terms of quality, because having a large number of young players on a squad isn’t always beneficial if they don’t get enough playing time. We will measure quality based on the percentage of minutes played by U21 players at each club. Then, one team stands out: Strasbourg, where 48% of the playing time goes to young players.

The other two teams rounding out the top three are also among those that have used the most U21 players: Barcelona and Stade Reims.

On the other hand, the two remaining teams from the top five of U21 players used, Nice and Montpellier, do not rely as heavily on their young players. Nice have fielded 11 U21 players, but they have only played a total of 3,583 minutes—just 16% of the team’s total. Montpellier have used the same number of players, but for even less playing time (11%).

Another example of this is Olympique Marseille under Roberto De Zerbi, who's given minutes to eight U21 players but with little continuity—these players have only accounted for 5% of the total minutes.

At RB Leipzig, quite the opposite happens: they haven’t used many young players, but those they have are highly important to the team. Antonio Nusa, Benjamin Sesko, Arthur Vermeeren, and Xavi Simons have accumulated 5,281 minutes, with an additional 900 minutes from Lukeba (during the time he counted as a U21) and 524 minutes from center-back Bitshiabu. In other words, Leipzig rank among the top five teams for percentage of minutes given to U21s (also with a high total minutes) because their young players are key contributors to the team.

If it weren’t for Xavi Simons’ injury, which sidelined him for months, the percentage could be even higher.

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If we were to choose a project for the long term, it would be essential to know which clubs—or projects—are prioritizing giving space to their youngest players.

In LaLiga, Celta de Vigo stand out, increasing their U21 minutes share from 7% to 24%. The case of Celta is paradoxical because the number of U21 players hasn’t increased much. In 2023/24, six U21 players featured, and in 2024/25, seven have played. The difference lies in playing time: this season’s U21 players have already played twice as many minutes as last season’s. On average, a U21 player at Celta has played 858 minutes this season, compared to 519 last season. The club’s presidential change has led to a conscious commitment to youth development. Both the coach, Claudio Giráldez, and six of the seven young Celta players (Yoel Lago, Fer López, Damián Rodríguez, Javi Rodríguez, Hugo Sotelo, and Hugo Álvarez) come from one of Spain’s best reserve teams in recent years.

In the Bundesliga, Union Berlin is relatable for increasing its U21 minutes by 13 percentage points. Of course, if the increase starts at zero everything is always easier. In 2023/24, the club played in the Champions League for the first time, prompting them to reinforce the squad with experienced players. Their policy has now shifted slightly—they have used only three U21 players, but they have accumulated nearly 3,000 minutes. Two of them have been new signings in an effort to rejuvenate the squad.

We’ve barely talked about the Premier League!

Chelsea was the team that used the most U21 players last season (11), but many of them are no longer that young. However, two clubs in similar situations have started incorporating more young talents. Among the 18 teams with the highest increase in U21 minutes, we find Manchester City and Tottenham, both with a nine-percentage-point increase. Guardiola’s team has gone from 3% to 12%, while Tottenham has jumped from 1% to 10%.

These are different cases. Tottenham is in a rebuilding phase, with five of their last seven signings being U21 players: Wilson Odobert (20), Archie Gray (18), Lucas Bergvall (18), Antonin Kinsky (21), and Mathys Tel (19). The last two were expected to be gradually integrated, but injuries throughout the season have accelerated their inclusion, along with Mikey Moore (17), who has already played nearly 400 minutes. Tottenham has added more U21 players to its squad than any other Premier League club this season: in 2023/24, they used four, and in 2024/25, they have used eight—soon to be nine with the inclusion of Mathys Tel, who's yet to be counted despite having played 135 minutes as there have been no Premier League matchdays since his arrival.

Manchester City’s case, as we’ve discussed in previous articles, is due to a nearly forced squad rejuvenation. Rodrigo Hernández’s absence has exposed issues that were previously masked by his Ballon d’Or-level performances. City has increased their number of U21 players from two to six, but only two of them have played more than 200 minutes in the league: Rico Lewis and Savinho. With already established but aging players not performing as Guardiola would've hoped, City have taken the quickest route: signing new talent. In January, they brought in Vitor Reis (19) and Abdukodir Khusanov (20), as well as Nico González (23), who doesn’t make the U21 list. If he recovers from a long-term injury, Oscar Bobb (21) could become City’s seventh U21 player this season.

The number of U21 players participating in the top five leagues keeps growing, making it difficult to find teams where their share of minutes has decreased. But there are some…

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The two teams with the biggest drop in U21 minutes are Liverpool and Atalanta. Liverpool has gone from 6% to 1%, dropping from 2,715 minutes last season to just 547 in 2024/25. Various factors explain this, including Gravenberch aging out of the U21 category and Harvey Elliott, who played 1,666 minutes under Klopp last season, seeing very little playing time under Slot this season (just 167 minutes).

Perhaps now, dear agent of young footballers, you have a clearer idea of which leagues or teams are best suited for your U21 players.