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THE ACADEMY: Savvy Swans approach reaps dividends

Swansea host Tottenham on Sunday down in south Wales with the two teams operating away from the hype and niggle surrounding the other 4pm kick-off between arch rivals Arsenal and Manchester United at the Emirates.

For fans of the beautiful game who pride flair and talented homegrown products above the foreign billions and players being pumped into the Premier League, this fascinating tussle is the perfect end to the weekend.

As I’ve discussed in a previous column about Tottenham, Mauricio Pochettino’s north London outfit has an enviable reputation for developing international players or plucking stars of tomorrow from the lower divisions.

What of the Swans then? Has Garry Monk got a tidy crop of young players to call upon?

Nigel Rees is the man responsible for delivering a steady stream of talent into the first team based around the new Development Centre in Cwmdu.

Rees can call upon a core team consisting of ex-Swansea player Jon Grey, David Adams, Gary Richards and Andrew Sparkes - former Head of Academy Goalkeeping at the New York Red Bulls.

The team has already cultivated two Welsh internationals that have been sold on for impressive fees to Liverpool and Spurs respectively in the form of Joe Allen and Ben Davies.

They were far from the finished product when sold, as can be seen from their struggles to nail down a consistent first-team place at their current clubs, however their upside was obvious to everyone.

They have also managed to bring through the likes of Liam Shephard into first-team contention, while players such as Josh Sheehan (video below/main pic above) and Connor Roberts fine tune their game on loan elsewhere.

Injury-plagued Lee Lucas has represented Wales at U21 level as has defender Daniel Alfei, while Shepherd, Sheehan and Ryan Hedges have been called up recently to boot.

When you look at a map of England and Wales, Swansea are uniquely placed to attract potential academy players with just Cardiff, Newport and the two Bristol clubs competing nearby.

The football boom in south Wales of late, thanks mostly to Swansea’s ascent to the Premier League, has seen many young sportsmen and women switch from the traditional rugby base.

Money talks and the lure of rugby union has waned across Wales in line with the diminishing funds being pumped into it, the millions on offer to professional footballers persuading the families of players flirting with both sports to mostly ditch the country’s nostalgic sporting son.

Are there any other players catching the eye around Liberty Stadium way?

Oliver McBurnie is doing his best presently to boss the Under-21 Premier League goal charts with a scintillating run of form that will do his first-team cause no harm at all as can be seen from the highlights video below.

The former Bradford youth striker went on loan to Chester before the Swans brought him down on a permanent deal and the academy team’s enterprising work with him has resulted in the Scotland U21 international banging in goals for fun.

His Scottish compatriot Jay Fulton learned his trade at Falkirk before he too made the trip down south and big things are expected of the midfielder into the bargain.

Swansea City legends in the vein of mercurial winger Cliff Jones together with the Allchurch brothers Ivor and Len are hard acts to follow, let alone latter-day cult heroes such as Lee Trundle and Ashley Williams, but these young lads look set to give it a good crack under Rees’ watchful eye.

This is a regular academy column for Yahoo Sport UK.

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