"Where did he come from?" is the question often posed by fans across the world when viewing a Premier League player for the first time. Some people may imagine that Micah Richards turned up one Friday at the City of Manchester Stadium and was picked to play for Manchester City the next day. The reality is rather different.

In the vast majority of cases the top players started their careers, probably first having been spotted playing for a junior side, as little known youngsters in a professional club's youth development scheme. Every Premier League club is striving to uncover the next Wayne Rooney or Joe Cole and they devote huge resources to their own programmes which are becoming increasingly sophisticated.

Players as young as eight years of age can register* for a club and receive top quality training from highly qualified staff in a first class environment. Indeed, many of the new club training facilities such as those newly opened at Aston Villa, Chelsea and Everton are the products of the clubs' commitment to nurturing talented youngsters as well as supporting their established players.

Not surprisingly, clubs take recruitment very seriously and competition for places is very tough. They recognise that if they can secure the best available young talent they can school them in their 'Club Way.' Players like John Terry, Steven Gerrard and Gary Neville have been at their respective clubs since the start of their careers. They know the club inside out and are icons for the local community. They often also provide the heartbeat for the dressing room. So, the club gets a player who understands the culture on and off the pitch and the fans get someone with whom they have a natural affinity.

Clubs of course, explore different regions for recruitment but they all subscribe to the view that a good home-grown player is a vital commodity to have.

*restrictions apply