Academies of Premiership Big Four full of foreign starlets

The Premiership's big four have all copped flak from clubs around the world over their global recruiting methods for their academy teams.

With Chelsea now facing a transfer ban to January 2011, there are calls from clubs for the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool to be brought into line over their recruiting of youth players.

Some of the well-known foreign players at the Big Four’s academies – and where they arrived from:

Liverpool: Damien Plessis (Lyon), Daniel Ayala (Seville), Christopher Buchtmann (Dortmund), Gerardo Bruna (Real Madrid), Francisco Duran (Malaga), Daniel Pacheco (Barcelona), Martin Hansen (Brondby), Nikola Saric (Herfolge), Vincent Weijl (AZ Alkmaar)

Manchester United: Fabio da Silva (Fluminense), Rafael da Silva (Fluminense), Federico Macheda (Lazio), Ron-Robert Zieler (FC Koln), Davide Petrucci (Roma), Magnus Eikrem (Molde), Rodrigo Possebon (Internacional), Paul Pogba (Le Havre)

Arsenal: Vito Mannone (Atalanta), Fran Mérida (Barcelona), Francis Coquelin (Laval), Pedro (Figueirense), Sead Hajrovic (Grasshoppers), Ignasi Miquel (Cornella), Nacer Barazite (NEC Nijmegen), Oghuzan Ozyakup (AZ Alkmaar)

Chelsea: Gaël Kakuta (Lens), Jeffrey Bruma (Feyenoord), Patrick van Aanholt (PSV), Miroslav Stoch (FC Nitra), Philipp Prosenik (Rapid Vienna)

 
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