Rising stars or desperation? São Paulo top for academy players | OneFootball

São Paulo was the club that used the most players formed in its youth academy in this edition of the Brazilian Championship of 2025.

In the vast majority of cases, it was out of pure necessity and desperation, as the squad had over 70 absences that left the Tricolor short-handed throughout the year. In total, 17 homegrown athletes were used by the club in this year's Brasileirão.

The number was matched only by Flamengo, which reached the mark by fielding a team full of under-20 players in the last round against Mirassol, having already secured the national championship.

Corinthians came in second place with 13 youth academy graduates, and Santos was third with 12 players formed at the Vila.

The names from Tricolor, however, are not just young revelations. The club brought back some names, such as Lucas Moura and Oscar. And the one who played the most among the 17 athletes was the midfielder Pablo Maia, with 25 matches played for São Paulo in the Brasileirão.

Rodriguinho was second, with 18 appearances, followed by Lucas Ferreira, who was indeed promoted this year from Cotia but has already been sold abroad by the 'bankrupt' São Paulo. The attacking midfielder played 13 matches.

See all the names revealed by Tricolor used in this Brazilian Championship:

Pablo Maia – 25 games, 1 goal Rodriguinho – 18 games Lucas Ferreira – 13 games Lucas – 11 games, 2 goals Maik – 9 games, 2 goals Ryan Francisco – 8 games, 2 goals Matheus Alves – 8 games Lucca – 8 games Oscar – 6 games Luan – 6 games Patryck – 5 games Negrucci – 5 games Young – 3 games Henrique do Carmo – 3 games Paulinho – 3 games Pedro Ferreira – 2 games Nícolas – 1 game

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.