But bear in mind the huge number of kids that pass through an academy, there will be well over 100 at Saints right now from 10 years olds up to the development squad. Plenty drop out as they get older and more get brought in from other academies or satellite sites etc. So getting 10 of them to play for the first team would be pretty amazing, and 30 in the top four divisions is even less likely. Unrelated: I saw Ben Reeves yesterday. That is all.
Don't we do pretty much the same thing? I recall a story about a 14 year old at MK Dons who was the subject of a bidding war between Chelsea and Liverpool. Can't remember which one he went to, but his fee was £1.5m. I struggle to work out how a team can justify spending that sort of money on a youth player. They do though and it's good revenue for smaller academies.
I think they justify it by saying he might be the next Messi, so signing him for £1.5 million would then be good business. Heck, even if he's the next Jordan Henderson it still saves upwards of £18 million.
