West Ham has been ranked ninth in a table of top developers of Premier League talent created by the Daily Mirror.

West Ham Academy graduates spent 19,608 minutes playing in the Premier League last season moving the Hammers up two places.

Despite finished sixth in the league last season Manchester United comfortably retained their position as the leading developers of Premier League talent.

Twenty players who finished their youth-team football with United featured in the 2018-19 top flight, matching the previous term’s tally.

They combined to play over 27,000 minutes, keeping United nearly 10,000 minutes clear of nearest challengers Spurs.

Spurs tally dropped from 22,314 to 17,903, meaning they took just 351 minutes out of United’s lead which now stands at 9,492 minutes.

Sixteen Southampton academy products played in last season’s top flight, including nine in their own team – though United full-back Luke Shaw and Fulham’s Calum Chambers made the biggest contributions to their combined 15,964 minutes.

Top 20 producers of Premier League players

(Rank, club, minutes, change in ranking from 2017-18)

1 Manchester United 27,395 (-)

2 Tottenham 17,903 (-)

3 Southampton 15,964 (+6)

4 Chelsea 15,870 (-1)

5 Manchester City 13,605 (+7)

6 Sheffield United 12,400 (-1)

7 Liverpool 12,104 (+10)

8 Benfica 11,032 (+23)

9 West Ham 10,608 (+2)

10 Sporting Lisbon 10,127 (+6)

11 Barcelona 9,712 (+22)

12 Ajax 9,418 (-2)

13 Everton 9,404 (-5)

14 Schalke 9,031 (-)

15 Toulouse 8,793 (+70)

16 Leeds 8,279 (-3)

17 Crystal Palace 7,977 (+7)

18 Feyenoord 7,888 (-11)

19 Coventry 7,793 (+113)

20 Arsenal 7,604 (-16)