Daily Echo:

SAINTS’ academy products contributed among the most of any club in the world to the Premier League last season.

Staplewood graduates played 14,340 minutes of English top-flight football in 2016/17.

Only three academies on the planet can top that, with Manchester United leading the way on a staggering 44,055 minutes, followed by Tottenham (19,995) and Manchester City (16,226).

James Ward-Prowse tops the game-time rankings among those from the academy still at Saints, having completed 1,884 minutes.

That’s more that half the 3,108 minutes accumulated in total by graduates at St Mary’s, with Sam McQueen in second on 608 and Matt Targett (374), Josh Sims (206) and Harrison Reed (63) completing the list.

Adam Lallana played 2,349 top-flight minutes for Liverpool, making him the biggest contributor of all Staplewood’s products, with Calum Chambers (2,160) following close behind, having played mostly on loan at relegated Middlesbrough from Arsenal.

The Gunners’ other Saints academy men, Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, added 1,924 and 1,562 minutes respectively to the tally, helped by AFC Bournemouth’s Andrew Surman (1,803 minutes) and Tyrone Mings (505 minutes).

Manchester United’s Luke Shaw, who moved from Saints for £30m in 2014, accumulated just 691 minutes, while Nathan Dyer played just 212 minutes for Swansea.

The totals refer to players who finished their development with the club, hence why Jack Stephens, who moved to Saints from Plymouth Argyle at 16 years old, for example, does not make the list.

It was, though, Manchester United’s academy that made the single biggest contribution to last season’s Premier League of any youth set-up.

The Press Assocation research showed that their graduates racked up more than twice as many top-flight minutes played as the next best academy.

Of last season’s European qualifiers from the Premier League, Liverpool are the only one not to feature in the top 10, ranking 17th in the study with 8,753 minutes.

League One champions Sheffield United made a surprise appearance in the top 10, finishing eighth on 13,564 minutes - one place and 119 minutes ahead of Chelsea.

Full-backs Kyle Walker (2,704 minutes) and Kyle Naughton (2,718) featured extensively for Tottenham and Swansea respectively, with Harry Maguire playing 2,306 minutes for Hull and fellow centre-back Phil Jagielka 2,250 for Everton.

The only club from outside England to feature in the top 10 were Dutch side Ajax, who were 10th. Graduates from Barcelona’s La Masia finishing school made the 12th-biggest contribution, while the largest representation from outside Europe came from the youth set-up at Argentinian giants River Plate.

Here is the top 20:

  1. Manchester United 44,055
  2. Tottenham 19,995
  3. Manchester City 16,226
  4. SAINTS 14,340
  5. West Ham 13,907
  6. Everton 13,855
  7. Arsenal 13,599
  8. Sheffield United 13,564
  9. Chelsea 13,445
  10. Ajax 12,617
  11. Feyenoord 12,589
  12. Barcelona 10,858
  13. Crystal Palace 10,851
  14. Aston Villa 10,686
  15. Middlesbrough 10,487
  16. Genk 9,263
  17. Liverpool 8,753
  18. Sporting Lisbon 8,499
  19. Derby 7,240
  20. Schalke 7,090