Early last year, statistics released by the Premier League showed that 97 per cent of players who come through elite academies never play a minute of top-flight football.
Some end up in the EFL. A lucky few find moves abroad.

But the vast majority are lost to the game forever.

It can be hard to understand why sometimes.

These kids might not be the best of the best, but they were certainly the best of the rest.

A recent conversation with a manager working in Non-League, however, highlighted one of the biggest hurdles facing youngsters binned by big clubs: pride.

The manager in question ...