Stade Rennais remains just outside Europe’s academy podium

Inside the modest training grounds of Stade Rennais, rows of eager youngsters line up while scouts from across Europe watch, awaiting the CIES football observatory’s annual academy ranking. The latest list confirms the club’s ninth straight appearance among the continent’s elite, with twenty‑eight graduates active in the five major leagues.

Ranking details and rivals

The CIES ranking tallies the number of academy products currently playing in the world’s top leagues. In the Big‑Five leagues, Rennes sits fourth, just behind Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Manchester City.

Real Madrid leads the table with forty graduates, while Barcelona follows with thirty‑four. Manchester City occupies third place with twenty‑nine players, leaving Rennes one spot and one player behind.

The academy’s most prominent ambassadors are the Paris‑based duo Ousmane Dembélé and Désiré Doué, who frequently remind fans of their Breton roots. Other notable graduates include Eduardo Camavinga, Jérémy Jacquet, Lucas Da Cunha, Adrien Truffert and Andy Diouf, all of whom featured in Zinédine Zidane’s inaugural France squad.

Trailing the Rennais, Ajax Amsterdam and Paris Saint‑Germain each have twenty‑seven alumni in the top leagues. Les clubs formateurs demonstrate that the ranking, though purely statistical, speaks volumes about the quality of players emerging from the ETP Odorico centre.

The consistency underlines the fertile Breton soil that continues to supply talent to Europe’s biggest stages. As the academy’s mantra declares, ‘On ne change pas une formation qui gagne.’