Which academies do Ligue 1 McDonald's players come from?

In terms of formative clubs, every continent is currently represented in Ligue 1 McDonald's: from Independiente del Valle, where PSG's Willian Pacho and Strasbourg's Kendry Paez broke through, to the famous Génération Foot in Senegal, who trained numerous Metz players, as well as Le Havre's Issa Soumaré and Monaco's Lamine Camara, whilst five players from Nordsjaelland's academy also play in France's top-flight.

Rennes, PSG and Lyon on the podium

Whilst there are plenty of foreign clubs' academy products represented, Ligue 1 McDonald's and Ligue 2 BKT feature most prominently, with Rennes, PSG, and Lyon at the top.

During last weekend's game against Strasbourg (4-1), Lucas Rosier (18) became the eighth academy player to be used by Habib Beye this season. There are a further 11 players who have come through SRFC's academy and who play elsewhere in Ligue 1, including Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembélé, the Doué brothers, and Romain Del Castillo, making them the club that has provided the most players currently plying their trade in the elite.

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PSG, meanwhile, continue to bring through their Titis, with Quentin Ndjantou and Mathis Jangeal, who have followed in the footsteps of Warren Zaire-Emery, Senny Mayulu, and Ibrahim Mbaye.

Les Parisiens' academy is also represented at other Ligue 1 McDonald's clubs, with Jonathan Ikoné playing for city neighbours Paris FC, Odsonne Édouard at Lens, Ethan Mbappé at Lille, and Timothy Weah at Marseille.

The other club that has the most amount of players who have come through their academy is Lyon. Les Gones have six home-grown players in their squad this season; Rachid Ghezzal notably joins captain Corentin Tolisso. There are also another nine OL academy products at other clubs, including Bradley Barcola (PSG), Amine Gouiri (OM), Anthony Lopes (Nantes), Esteban Lepaul (Rennes), and Melvin Bard (Nice).

Northern Europe well represented

Among foreign countries, England are well represented. 14 English clubs have at least one player currently playing in Ligue 1 McDonald's. Manchester United (Paul Pogba at Monaco, Angel Gomes and Mason Greenwood at OM, and Maxi Oyedele at Strasbourg) and Arsenal (Mika Biereth and Folarin Balogun at ASM, Ainsley Maitland-Niles at Lyon, and Glen Kamara of Rennes) are the most prominent, with four players apiece.

Whilst Belgium have 15 players who have come through their academies to go on and currently play in Ligue 1 McDonald's, including four for Standard Liege and another four for Gent (that includes Lyon's Malick Fofana and Lille's Matias Fernandez-Pardo), it is more surprising to note the number of players who came through at Danish clubs.

There are currently 11, including five who came through at Nordsjaelland, based in Farum. Another Scandinavian country, Norway, has six players, including three from Valerenga (Aron Donnum of Toulouse, Osame Sahraoui of LOSC, and Fredrik Oppegard of Auxerre). There are just as many who come from Sweden.

Finally, as expected, Portugal are well represented. There are 15 players who have come from the academies of Sporting CP, Porto, or Benfica. The former have the most players currently playing in Ligue 1 McDonald's (Nuno Mendes of PSG, Eric Dier of Monaco, Félix Correia of Lille, and Brest's Mama Baldé among them).

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