Youth Academy Quotes

There won't be more Messis, and we don't expect there to be more, as there won't be another generation in La Masia like the one with Xavi, Busi, Puyol, Iniesta and me.

A great deal of who I am is down to Barca and La Masia - I am very thankful to them.

From United's point of view, it is always difficult to tell just when a young footballer is going to mature into a first-class professional ready to play at the highest level, but the story of how Pogba slipped away from United has more than one strand to it.

He is an example of a La Masia player. Technically he is unbelievable.

Like so many of the players, I started at La Masia at the age of 11. I can't ever imagine not playing for Barcelona, let alone not playing soccer for a career. I don't ever want to play anywhere else.

I grew up at Real Madrid and played there a long time.

When Pep was at Barcelona, I was so young, 16 or 17 years old. I went to training a lot, and Pep Guardiola told me a lot of things, but I didn't stay in the first team. He is an amazing coach, and if he comes to the Premier League, I think he will win a lot of titles.

I had long conversations with Wenger before I joined Real, and that's how I got to know about Arsenal and the way that they like to sign talented players who can move the ball well.

I signed for Ajax in 1989 when I was still at school.

Ajax have a set model, a defined youth programme - Barcelona have one too, and Juventus. And Atletico Madrid do too. Real Madrid don't - because they alternate developing their own players with signing talent.

It looks like things are changing in north London. Tottenham have gone down a road they've never been down before. They've kept their best players and pushed young English ones through. They've started to match Arsenal - who were light years ahead - by building a new stadium.

It's the perfect club for any footballer to develop and to grow, because as everybody knows, La Masia can give you stability; they take care of you when you leave home.

For me, the youth academy has a fundamental role in every club.

I was lucky in that I played in a Liverpool team alongside the likes of Raheem Sterling, Jon Flanagan, Andre Wisdom and Suso and you knew that these players were special.

Arsenal is known and loved throughout the world for its style of play, its commitment to young players, the fantastic stadium, the way the club is run.

At Brondby, we had Daniel Agger, who came up from the youth. He had two years in the team, and then we sold him to Liverpool for nearly £7 million, which is a lot of money in Denmark. As a manager, that gives you even greater satisfaction that winning something as a player.

It's my belief that Barcelona are successful because they have a number of youth teams alongside the first team. They are where it begins.

Ajax always bring through young players from their academy - we can't pay €20m for a player, so we make sure we develop those players and give them the opportunity to play.

Ajax has always been about homegrown players developed in a small country.

We want to bring our own players through. That is what people like about Ajax.

Football's about the young players, bringing youth team players through to the first team and hopefully getting the best out of them so they can go on to play for their country.

Novi Sad is a really beautiful city, and the club is really nice. It is one of the best youth academies in Serbia.

I like to believe Chelsea is where I will go through and do well. I have been there since I was six years old. My dream is to break into the first team.

A lot of the guys who played in the 1995 final for Ajax had been there since the age of 12 or 13. Patrick Kluivert and Edgar Davids had been there from age seven or eight, so I had a lot of catching up to do.

Teams want the best players. If the best players come through your academy, you can play.