European soccer is home to some of the most prestigious and productive youth academies in the world. These academies have a storied history of developing young players who go on to become stars in the sport; contributing not only to their clubs but also to national teams across the globe. According to CIES’ recent data, […]

Barcelona's La Masia academy often garners praise for its prolific production of talents. However, Real Madrid's La Fabrica youth setup also boasts a proud tradition of developing exceptional players. Madrid do have a reputation for spending extravagantly on emerging stars; but the club has also nurtured legends like Iker Casillas and Raul through its in-house […]

Who are the very best young players in the world? For the purposes of this article, "young players" are those no older than 22. First there are the obvious: Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Alexandre Pato, Francesc Fabregas, Karim Benzema, etc. Their class has been established before this mysterious "young" label vanished, and subsequently they command […]

King Kenny is back! After a 18 year hiatus, the man many hail as Liverpool's greatest ever player, Kenny Dalglish, will rejoin Liverpool Football Club. From the club's official site: "Dalglish will assume a senior role at the Liverpool Academy and will also act as a Club ambassador working with the commercial side of the […]

Earlier today the Houston Dynamo announced they would be signing a player to the squad tomorrow, in a World Soccer Wrap/MLS Talk exclusive, we have learned that the signing will be goalkeeper Tyler Deric. Deric is a native of Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston, a graduate of Klein High School, and has been a […]