🇪🇨 Ecuador's talent factory can't stop producing stars like Moises Caicedo

Independiente del Valle have changed the face of Ecuadorian football. How are they doing it?

Not all of the Premier League-record $146m transfer fee paid by Chelsea for Moises Caicedo landed in Brighton’s bank account.

Indeed, a sell-on fee of $29m ended up going to Independiente del Valle, the Ecuadorian Serie A club that gave Caicedo his start in the professional game.

Of the 26 players called up to Ecuador’s squad for the 2022 World Cup, 12 had some sort of link to Independiente del Valle. Most of those 12, including Jeremy Sarmiento, Piero Hincapie and Gonzalo Plata, were under the age of 22. Caicedo, now the most expensive midfielder of all-time, is only 21.

Independiente del Valle has made itself Ecuador’s talent factory. The South American nation is widely seen as a rising force in world football and much of this is down to the work being done by the 65-year-old club.

So what exactly are Los Negriazules doing so well and could it be replicated by other clubs intent on producing their own Caicedo?