London produces some of the world’s best players.
That’s not an opinion; it’s a fact.
Transfermarket.co.uk recently analysed which cities produced the most valuable players.
London reached the top of the list, producing €1.6bn worth of talent.
Players such as Declan Rice and Harry Kane have contributed greatly, making moves in excess of £100 million over the past three transfer windows.
London has produced more Premier League players than any other region in England.
At the beginning of the 2023/24 season, 275 players from the capital have made an appearance in England’s top flight.
London is home to some of the biggest clubs in the world, with Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, and four other Premier League clubs situated in arguably football’s greatest hotbed.
The question is, where does this talent come from?
To nurture raw talent, a positive environment is required, with coaches at every level laying the groundwork to help create the next superstar.
Before players enter academy football, their journey starts in grassroots football.
Local parks across Greater London are full of promising youngsters.
In this tactical analysis, presented as a scout report, we will utilise the youth talent identification system Eyeball to highlight three academies based in London that aren’t directly affiliated with a professional club.
This analysis will cover the success of these academies in producing players for professional clubs and analyse the next exciting talents to emerge from these clubs.
Kinetic Academy
Founded by Harry Hudson and James Fothreingham in 2011, Kinetic Academy is more than your typical talent development centre.
Based in the football hotbed of South London, the academy aims to provide elite football training and deliver an education program that will help young people progress to employment and higher education.
Kinetic has been successful on both fronts.
Kinetic Academy has seen an incredible 94% of their graduates move on to higher education or employment.
Impressively, they’ve also played a part in 72 of their graduates signing professional contracts.
Most notably, Southampton and Nigeria international Joe Aribo.
This constant stream of talent emerging from the Kinetic Academy doesn’t appear to be stopping any time soon.
Chester Isaacs Scouting Report
One of the most exciting talents at Kinetic Academy is 17-year-old Chester Isaacs.
Playing as a centre-forward, Issacs has a deep hunger to score goals.
Isaacs has shown his goalscoring ability by finding the net against the academy sides of professional clubs.
He averages 1.21 goals per game.
Out of the 4.4 shots he takes per 90, 3.5 of these shots come from inside the penalty area.
Here, Chester is in the box, awaiting the delivery of a wide free kick.
He slowly makes his way towards the front post.
He then darts as the ball is delivered and meets the ball cleanly with his head.
He directs the ball into the top corner of the goal.
Chester also has the ability to do the much needed defensive work of a centre-forward.
He averages four recoveries and 1.69 tackles per 90 minutes.
Using his pace, agility and strength, he puts defenders under severe pressure as they attempt to play out from the back.
In this situation, Isaacs starts close to his centre-forward partner, encouraging the opposition goalkeeper to pass out wide.
Issacs presses intensely as the ball is played from the goalkeeper to the centre-back.
In doing so, he wins the ball back and sets up an attack that leads to a clear shot on goal.
Kinetic also possesses a number of other up-and-coming players.
Corey Holden Scouting Report
Corey Holden catches the eye.
The 17-year-old can play both full-back and central midfield.
His ability to outplay his opponents catches the eye.
Holden averages 2.5 take-ons and 1.36 successful controls under pressure per 90.
Here, Holden picks up the ball in half-space.
He turns away once from pressure, protecting the ball.
With his opponent still close by, Holden uses an incredible piece of skill to lose the defender.
This allows him to progress forward and find a teammate.
Holden doesn’t just have the ability to receive the ball at his feet.
He also wants to get in behind the opposition’s defence.
He averages 2.9 shots per 90 minutes.
This is down to a combination of his ability to both get in behind defences through his skill and movement off the ball.
In this scenario, the number 6 is picking the ball up in a deep position.
With the player on the ball having time and space, Holden sees an opportunity to get in behind the backline.
He makes a great run from deep and is found with an excellent pass from the number 6.
Holden beats a recovering defender and eventually puts the ball just wide of the far post.
Cre8tive Football Academy
Based in West London, Cre8tive Football Academy, founded in 2016, is well and truly on its way to producing some of London’s next superstars.
In just eight years, the academy has seen a number of its players make the step into academy football and have graduates who have gone on to play for England at the underage level.
Over the past couple of years, more and more of Cre8tive Football Academy’s graduates have made their way into first-team football.
In recent years, several debutants for football league clubs have spent part of their development journey at the Cre8tive Football Academy.
Talent continues to be developed at Cre8tive.
Emmanuel Ziro Scouting Report
One of the most exciting players discovered in this search was 14-year-old Emmanuel Ziro.
Playing last year in Cre8tive’s under-14 side, he has demonstrated many elite attributes.
Even in games against Premier League Academy sides, Ziro has stood out against some of the best players in London.
Playing in midfield, his ability to keep the ball under pressure is exceptional.
He averages 4.3 take-ons per 90, highlighting his desire to beat his opponents in 1v1 scenarios.
Here, Emmanuel Ziro picks up the ball in his own half.
He does a couple of turns successively to lose his opponent.
He then breaks forward using his pace and power before playing a fantastic pass to a teammate, making a forward run.
This ability to pass forward is undoubtedly one of Ziro’s greatest assets.
He’s averaged 7.7 forward passes and a remarkable 2.5 key passes per 90 minutes when playing as a central midfielder.
In this situation, Ziro picks the ball up from deep.
He’s under no pressure, giving him time to pick up his head and assess his options.
He plays a perfectly weighted ball over the heads of the opposition’s defenders, finding a teammate who is in point-blank range of the goal.
Hamza Jamaleddin Scouting Report
Cre8tive also have in their ranks a promising goalkeeper.
14-year-old Hamza Jamaleddin has shown great potential through his shot-stopping and ability to claim the ball.
He averages eight catches per 90 minutes.
Here, Hamza Jamaleddin shows his commanding presence in the penalty area.
He can come and collect a dangerous corner amongst multiple bodies.
This puts confidence in his defence, knowing the security Jamaleddin brings.
Cre8tive encourages their teams to play out from the back, helping them prepare their players if they make the step up to a higher level.
Jamaleddin shows calmness on the ball, but also his ability to play forward.
He averages 7.3 forward passes per 90.
In this situation, he receives the ball in his penalty box.
He plays a pinpoint long ball to the head of his striker.
This is the platform for a dangerous attack that allows Cre8tive to enter the opposition’s box.
Lambeth Tigers
Lambeth Tigers was first formed in 1995 before being re-established by David Marriott and Jamahl Jarrett in 2010.
Situated in South London, the Orange Army trains at a facility funded by Nike and Jadon Sancho, who hails from the neighbouring borough of Southwark.
The combination of a quality facility, excellent coaching, and the endless talent pool south of the Thames has led to Lambeth producing an incredible number of players.
75 players who graduated from Lambeth Tigers have gone on to sign professional contracts in the past five years.
This doesn’t include the host of players who have moved on to academy football and have even gone on to represent their country at the youth level.
Dexter Lembikisa is one of the standout graduates currently on Wolverhampton Wanderers‘ books.
The 20-year-old most recently enjoyed a productive spell on loan at Hearts and regularly plays for Jamaica on the international stage.
More emerging talent continues to be produced at Lambeth Tigers.
Camri Getting Scouting Report
14-year-old Camri Gettin has many promising qualities.
Playing across the midfield, he possesses the ability to work in tight spaces and find his teammates with threaded passes.
He averages 9.3 forward passes and 1.63 key passes per 90.
Here, Gettin takes the ball on his back foot.
This gives him the ability to play forward with his next pass.
A number of his teammates make forward runs in an attempt to get behind the opposition’s backline.
Gettin plays an inch-perfect pass that penetrates the defence and finds his teammate.
His excellent technique also extends to his ability to score goals.
He averages 3.2 shots per game, with 1.86 coming from outside the penalty area.
Gettin, in this situation, is taking a free kick from a wide position.
He puts an enormous amount of curl and dip on his delivery.
So much so that it completely outfoxes the goalkeeper, who is unable to stop the ball from finding the top corner.
For every attacking midfielder a team possesses, the balance of a resolute, defensive-minded midfielder is also needed.
Morgan Stacul Scouting Report
Morgan Stacul provides a steely grit that every midfield needs.
The youngster has a real combative nature, not afraid to challenge for the ball.
He averages 10 recoveries and 5.72 tackles per 90 minutes.
Here, we see signs of defensive awareness.
As the ball travels inside, Stacul is smart and provides the needed cover to provide security to the defence.
His positioning allows him to intercept a dangerous pass on the edge of the penalty area.
Stacul also has the capability to score long-range goals.
Half of all his shots come from outside the area.
In this situation, Stacul picks the ball up on the edge of the area.
He strikes the ball cleanly and sees it fly into the top corner.
He proves in this instance that he’s more than just someone who can break up play.
He also poses an attacking threat.
Conclusion
There are certain areas in the world where talent is always produced.
London continues to be one of them.
It is hard to say which London football academy is the best, but it is safe to say that the great work done by academies outside of the professional game is making a huge impact on the constant flow of talent coming from London into the world’s elite clubs.
As this football scouting report demonstrates, London footballers appear poised to dominate the European stage for years to come.
