Manchester United have a proud history of promoting academy prospects into the first-team.

The famous 'Class of 92' are the perfect example of that with Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and the Neville brothers all rising through the ranks at Old Trafford.

It allowed Sir Alex Ferguson to build the foundations for one of the most successful clubs teams in history, ultimately winning 13 Premier League titles, without spending a penny.

Obviously, it goes without saying that a 'Class of 92' doesn't come around every decade, but that doesn't mean that the Red Devils have stopped applying an impetus on youth.

Louis van Gaal and current manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, in particular, have carried on the clubs great tradition by throwing youth prospects who have impressed in the academy in the first-team.

Man Utd youth prospects

The former is responsible for Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford now being regulars in the United squad, while the latter has helped promote Mason Greenwood and Brandon Williams into the side.

It's a pretty impressive feat when you consider United are one of the richest clubs in the world and essentially have the power to drown out their young talents with signing after signing after signing.

But that's not been the case this season and United have even earned themselves the accolade of having the highest percentage of 'homegrown talent' out of any club in Europe's top five leagues.

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Top 40 European clubs

Sports advisory and solutions firm Tifosy posted the statistics, via Transfermarkt, to their Twitter page on Thursday with 'homegrown talent' meaning players 'educated by the club'.

The likes of Rashford, Lingard, Greenwood and Williams as well as Paul Pogba and Scott McTominay mean the three-time European champions finish number one with a superb 40.7%.

However, the study did more than reveal United's brilliant academy system, it also praised the work of other clubs around Europe and compiled an entire top 40 - check it out down below: 

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Contrast in Manchester clubs

One Manchester club at the top and one at the bottom. Ouch.

It definitely shows the difference in mindsets at Old Trafford and the Etihad Stadium when the current champions have merely 12.7% homegrown talent in their squad, barely one quarter of United's.

Athletic Bilbao, who have always invested in Basque talent, bag themselves the silver medal, though there's a sizeable drop off by the time you reach the German clubs chasing the podium.

Chelsea are the next highest club in the Premier League, which is almost certainly a result of their transfer ban allowing players like Tammy Abraham and Mason Mount to play every week.  

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Arsenal, Southampton and Bayern Munich then find themselves in mid-table, while Real Madrid and Barcelona are separated by merely 0.4%. Liverpool and Dortmund are also surprisingly low.

But the results of the others aside, there's no denying that this list is a celebration of the fact arguably the world's biggest club continues to invest in its youth. Credit to you, United.