In May, a pivotal anniversary in the football world will come to pass. On the 24th of that month, it will be exactly 20 years since a young Ajax side managed by Louis van Gaal achieved Champions League glory, with Patrick Kluivert's goal helping to beat Juventus in the final.
In the post-Bosman era, it is rare indeed to see a team achieve success with a team of mostly home-produced players.
It was the stark reality we spoke about with Soccernomics author Simon Kuper on Team 33 this week.
But in this article, I want to highlight the European clubs who have been responsible for creating much of the talent we have been seeing in the Premier League,Champions League and elsewhere since the turn of the Millennium.
Some are elite clubs, some are small and some put great store in building their teams around their homegrown players.
So here are 20 clubs who have done well with launching careers since the year Y2K.
Ajax
No surprises here. The Amsterdam team have an incredible record when it comes to producing talent. The production peak came in the '90s when the club developed the likes of Clarence Seedorf, Edgar Davids, Patrick Kluivert, Frank De Boer and Edwin van der Sar (not to forget Dennis Bergkamp who came through a few years earlier) became mainstays at top European clubs and formed the backbone of a Netherlands side which reached the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 semi-finals and should have achieved much more.
Van der Vaart and Sneijder Manu Fernandez / Associated Press
Those key players came through at the same time, and although the glut has not been at the same level, the Netherlands team which played in the 2010 World Cup final included five starters developed at Ajax as well as substitute Rafael van der Vaart.
They are still churning out promising names like striker Davy Klaasen and Danish winger Viktor Fischer.
Key youth products: Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart, Jan Vertonghen, Nigel De Jong, Daley Blind, Christian Eriksen.
Atalanta
The Italian club from Bergamo has always had a rich pedigree for producing talent, although that has not materialised into any success on the pitch.
Currently, the yo-yo club is responsible for introducing Serie A to future Italy internationals like Milan duo Riccardo Montolivo and Giacomo Bonaventura and fellow Azzurri striker Simone Zaza, who has broken into the squad at Mario Balotelli's expense.
One-time Italy, Milan, Fiorentina and Inter forward Giampaolo Pazzini also came through at the club at the start of the last decade.
Key youth products: Riccardo Montolivo, Simone Zaza, Giacomo Bonaventura, Giampaolo Pazzini.
Atletico Madrid
For so long, ex-Liverpool and Chelsea striker Fernando Torres was the Madrid club's golden child, having come through at the turn of the Millennium at a time when the club was struggling.
He returned two months ago to a much healthier club which has since won a La Liga title, Copa del Rey, two Europa Leagues and reached a Champions League final.
But it has also done well when it comes to creating its own talent, with attacking midfielder Koke and Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea among the best young players in the world. Also keep an eye on young playmaker Oliver Torres, who is currently on loan at Porto but is expected to have a very bright future in the game.
Key youth products: Fernando Torres, David De Gea, Koke, Gabi, Oliver Torres.
Athletic Bilbao
Producing their own talent is vital for the club given their policy of only signing players born, raised or with connections to the Basque country.
Fortunately, their record is very good and the likes of Iker Muniain, Juventus forward Fernando Llorente and the backbone of the current side have all contributed to a club that holds a proud record of having never been relegated from La Liga.
Currently there is plenty of excitement about French-Basque defender Aymeric Laporte (20), who joined the Athletic academy in 2010.
Key youth products: Iker Muniain, Fernando Llorente, Aymeric Laporte, Beñat Extebarria.
Germany's Thomas Muller (left) Bastian Schweinsteiger and captain Philipp Lahm (right) celebrate World Cup glory at the final whistle (Mike Egerton / PA ARCHIVE IMAGES)
Bayern Munich
Like Ajax and Barcelona, the Bavarian giants have a fine record of not only producing their own talent, but also building teams around them - just think of the '70s team which included the likes of Franz Beckenbauer and Sepp Maier.
The 2013 Champions League-winning squad had a strong self-produced core of players like Bastian Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller and Philippe Lahm.
As you may have noticed those same players also played important roles as Germany won the 2014 World Cup.
Key youth products: Bastian Schweinsteiger, Philippe Lahm, Thomas Muller, Toni Kroos, David Alaba, Emre Can, Mats Hummels.
Barcelona
Little needs to be said. It suffices to say that the Catalan giants' football school La Masia has done rather well, under-pinning multiple La Liga titles and reaching its apogee between 2009 and 2012 under the stewardship of another youth graduate in former manager Pep Guardiola and the guidance of players developed in the late-90s like Xavi Hernandez and Carles Puyol.
The Spanish national team is also indebted to the wonders produced by La Masia, which remains in rude health even if it may not manage to replicate the golden generation of talent which swept all before it.
Key youth products post-2000: Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Gerard Pique, Cesc Fabregas, Victor Valdes, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Pedro Rodriguez.
Borussia Dortmund
Manager Jurgen Klopp probably deserves most credit for leading Borussia Dortmund from mediocrity and back to relevance at Europe's elite level.
But he has also had the aid of an academy which has also been highly productive.
Four of the players Dortmund used in the Champions League final two years ago spent time in the academy and that's not counting Germay's World Cup final hero Mario Gotze who missed that final through injury - and then ditched them for Bayern Munich.
Key youth products: Marco Reus, Mario Gotze, Marcel Schmelzer, Kevin Grosskreutz, Nuri Sahin.
Dinamo Zagreb's Modric against Ajax in 2007 (AP Photo/Evert Jan Daniels)
Dinamo Zagreb
We're oft-reminded that Croatia seems to develop a huge amount of football talent, despite having a similar population to Ireland.
Capital club Dinamo Zagreb are particularly prolific and can count Luka Modric, Inter Milan's Mateo Kovacic and (Liverpool fans may scoff) Dejan Lovren as players who have passed through its doors during their youth.
Key youth products: Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic, Vedran Corluka, Nico Kranjcar, Alen Halilovic.
Everton
Other than Southampton, Everton have been as good as any club in the Premier League when it comes to developing their own talent.
Since the Millennium, Wayne Rooney, Leon Osman and Ross Barkley have all come through.
Key youth products: Wayne Rooney, Ross Barkey, Leon Osman.
FC Basel
Before the Swiss champions dumped Liverpool out of the Champions League, I highlighted the achievements of the club's academy, which you can read here.
The names below give some good indication of their youth coaches' fine work.
Key youth products: Ivan Rakitic, Xherdan Shaqiri, Gokhan Ilner, Granit Xhaka.
Feyenoord
Back in the day, Ajax used to form the core of the Dutch national team. While the Amsterdam club continue to churn out talent, their Rotterdam rivals Feyenoord have come to the fore in that regard as they leave a delicate financial period behind.
Nine of Louis van Gaal's 23-man squad which made a surprise run to the 2014 World Cup semis were graduates of Feyenoord's school of football and many years before that Rotterdam native Robin van Persie started out there.
Key youth products: Robin van Persie, Jordy Clasie, Bruno Martins Indi, Daryl Janmaat, Jonathan De Guzman, Stefan De Vrij, Georginio Wijnaldum, Leroy Fer.
Lens
The Northern French club has enjoyed something of a hot streak in recent years, including giving a debut to some of the best young players in European football including Monaco's Geoffrey Kondogbia, Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane and PSG full-back Serge Aurier.
Unfortunately for the senior side, they look like they are about to be relegated back to Ligue 2.
Key youth products: Geoffrey Kondogbia, Raphael Varane, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Serge Aurier, Thorgan Hazard.
Former Lens defender Raphael Varane up against Lyon's Gourcuff (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
Lyon
If you take a look at the Ligue 1 table, you'll notice that Lyon are sitting pretty at the top. What is more remarkable is that on average they have about eight academy products in their starting lineup.
Yet they still hold a narrow lead over wealthy Paris Saint-Germain as Spring advances. It would be brilliant if they could win the league as it is hard to know if they can hold onto the talent currently at their disposal with Europe's vultures circling.
The current side includes Ligue 1's current top scorer Alexandre Lacazzette, as well as highly-rated attacking midfielder Nabil Fekir, while they were also responsible for the early development of Real Madrid and France's Karim Benzema who was born in Lyon.
Key youth products: Clement Grenier, Loic Remy, Alexandre Lacazzette, Samuel Umtiti, Nabil Fekir, Maxime Gonalons, Karim Benzema, Hatem Ben Arfa.
Osasuna
Sadly, the Pamplona club are languishing down in the Spanish second tier after relegation last season, but their youth coaches can cast their eye around La Liga and the higher echelons of European football to see players whose talents they carefully honed.
Key youth products: Cesar Azpilicueta, Javi Martinez, Nacho Monreal.
Real Madrid
The reigning European champions are often criticised for not giving their youth players a chance. While they do blood a fair few young players, they have also developed a number of well-known talents since the turn of the Millennium - most of whom had to move on for first team football.
Key youth products: Juan Mata, Jese Rodriguez, Dani Carvajal, Alvaro Arbeloa, Alvaro Morata, Roberto Soldado, Iker Casillas (strictly-speaking made his debut just before 2000).
Sporting Clube de Portugal
The Lisbon side have always had a good record with developing talent, especially when it comes to wingers.
FIFA presidential candidate Figo is one of the key examples, although one of his post-2000 successors has eclipsed him. You might have heard of him. The lad played for Manchester United and then scored some goals at Real Madrid. Likes himself a bit, apparently.
Key youth products: Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani, William Carvalho, Ricardo Quaresma, Joao Moutinho
Schalke 04
The Gelsenkirchen club are one of the biggest clubs in Germany, yet struggle to actually win anything meaningful.
That being said, their youth ranks have been very healthy since the turn of the Millennium.
Grouped with Chelsea in this season's Champions League group stages, developing players was the one area I felt that the blue-clad Germans out-did their blue English counterparts hands down.
Indeed, four members of Germany's World Cup-winning squad enjoyed spells in Schalke's development squads.
Key youth products: Manuel Neuer, Mesut Ozil, Benedikt Howedes, Max Meyer, Julian Draxler, Joel Matip
Sevilla
When I lived in Seville, I used to attend occasional Sevilla FC games and one of the great joys was sitting pitchside and watching Jesus Navas bombing down the right wing.
Often on the other side, you would find current Sporting Lisbon wide man Diego Capel, a player who started out in Barcelona's academy but also spent the latter part of his youth in Sevilla's underage ranks.
But they were only a small group of top players who Sevilla have produced since Y2K. Sergio Ramos, Liverpool's Alberto Moreno, former Arsenal winger Jose Reyes and the late Antonio Puerta are among the talent developed.
Key youth products: Sergio Ramos, Jesus Navas, Antonio Puerta, Alberto Moreno, Jose Antonio Reyes, Diego Capel.
Southampton
It goes without saying that the Saints have been brilliant when it comes to developing talent - even if they can only hold onto them for a short space of time.
Key youth products: Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Luke Shaw, Calum Chambers, Adam Lallana.
Honorable mentions
Anderlecht: Vincent Kompany, Romelu Lukaku, Youri Tielemans, Adnan Januzaj
Aston Villa: Gary Cahill, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Steven Davis
Lille: Eden Hazard, Yohan Cabaye.
Partizan Belgarde: Matija Nastasic, Adem Ljajic, Stevan Jovetic, Lazar Markovic.
Real Sociedad: Xabi Alonso, Asier Illarramendi, Xabi Prieto, Inigo Martinez.
Roma: Daniele De Rossi, Alessandro Florenzi, Alessandro Cerci, Alberto Aquilani.
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