El Millonario was highlighted by CIES in the CIES youth academy ranking, which includes clubs from 49 leagues
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Historically, River has built an identity based on the development of footballers. From its youth academy have emerged players who excelled at the club and later in Europe, such as the recent cases of Julián Álvarez, Enzo Fernández, Claudio Echeverri, and Franco Mastantuono.
This sustained work has once again received international recognition, as the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) placed the Núñez club in third place in the global ranking of best youth academies, among institutions from 49 leagues around the world.
The CIES report measures the performance of youth development clubs according to the number of players produced, the level of the teams where they play, and the official minutes played by each one during the past year. In this context, the Millonario surpassed giants such as Boca, Real Madrid, Liverpool, and Ajax, ranking only behind Benfica and Barcelona:
Benfica: 93 homegrown players active, with an average of 0.81 minutes of play per club and 2,582 minutes played.
Barcelona: 76 players, an average of 0.87 minutes and 2,773 minutes in official matches.
River Plate: 97 homegrown footballers, 0.81 minutes per club, and a total of 2,305 minutes of play.
Julián Álvarez es uno de los principales exponentes de las inferiores de River
The study clarifies that "youth development clubs" are considered those where players spent at least three seasons between the ages of 15 and 21. In this range, River continues to be an inexhaustible factory of talent, capable of combining sporting projection and economic development, consolidating its place among the most prestigious youth academies in world football.
The other recognition from CIES
The scope of praise for River is not limited to its work in youth development. In the organization's latest ranking of the 100 clubs that invested the most money in building their squads during the year, the Banda became the only Argentine club included in that prestigious list. The team occupies 78th place, with an estimated investment of 110 million euros in players for its current squad.
This recognition demonstrates not only the club's ability to develop talent, but also to structure buying and selling operations that allow it to compete economically on a global level, even without being part of the usual European market.
