Adam Underwood has revealed that Leeds United chairman Andrea Radrizzani has 'trebled the resources' of the club's academy over the last five years.
In recent years, the Whites have operated on the principle of buying high-quality young players at a cheaper rate, and developing and nurturing their talent at Thorp Arch.
Cody Drameh, Sam Greenwood and Crysencio Summerville are testament of that philosophy, and Leeds will be hopeful that the likes of Leo Hjelde, Lewis Bate, Darko Gyabi, Mateo Joseph and Sonny Perkins can follow suit.
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Leeds academy manager Underwood has praised the effectiveness of the investment that the club has made in its youth system, and also believes the Whites' recruitment department is among the strongest in the Premier League.
Underwood told Training Ground Guru: “We have more than trebled our resourcing of the academy over the last five years, which is full testament to the club, and everything we have done has had an impact.
“There is no question that we have invested hugely in our staffing structure, our processes, our resourcing, to achieve Category One. Everything has been done with a clear purpose. We don’t operate here in luxuries, everything we have is adding value to the development process or to the experience our players are having.
“We have, in my view, one of the strongest recruitment departments in the Premier League, particularly when it comes to youth football,” Underwood says.
“The investment there has been substantial and sustainable and is necessary now to ensure that in our training groups we have a best with best environment - the best local players and the best recruited players.”
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