Manchester City have been named the ‘least local’ club after Sky Sports carried out research to discover the average distance between their players’ birthplace and the Etihad Stadium.
The results were revealed, with the Citizens’ squad averaging 3,089 miles per player and a combined distance of 67,977 miles.
This is, however, poised to change in the coming years, when the new-and-improved academy set to begin producing regular first-team players in the next three years.
In the senior squad this season, the Sky Blues have five English players – more than in any of the previous two campaigns.
With UEFA and FA restrictions in place, clubs are forced to include a certain number of homegrown players in their squad.
The signings of Raheem Sterling, Fabian Delph and Patrick Roberts in the summer showed the intent to sign homegrown players from the City hierarchy.
City are attempting to do more than the minimum, though, and are looking to recruit more English players in the coming years as well as focusing on bringing through a number of the club’s youth players through to the first-team.
