“There’s a big scramble now. Everyone has realised that, yes, £1m or £2m sounds really expensive as a fee when you sign an academy player, but they just have to be Championship level or above and you could make a huge profit. It’s a business within a business.” The uneasy truce is over between the biggest academies in England. For many years, there was an unofficial agreement between the big clubs in the Premier League that they would not try to sign players from each others’ academies. It was an agreement that was occasionally violated, but the ‘Big Six’ co-existed relatively peacefully. Now, no player is off the table. The Athletic has spoken to dozens of sources inside English academies and at player agencies to find out what is happening in academy recruitment and why there has been such an upsurge in players moving between big clubs. 📝 @JordanC1107 🔗 nyti.ms/4xTkXk5