Manchester United are the best club in the Barclays Premier League at giving chances to young players, but debutants in England tend to be older than those in Spain, Germany and France.

The revelation comes from a new report by CIES Football Observatory looking into the average ages of which players join the first-team squad at their club.

And while United have the best record in England for blooding youngsters, local rivals Manchester City are among the worst in Europe with an average age on debut of 26.64 years compared to United's 22.90.

Manchester United are the Premier League's top club at giving chances to youngsters such as Tyler Blackett

Manchester City, on average, give debuts to older players than any other club in England's top flight

Louis van Gaal has made an effort to bring young players into his Manchester United team this season

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has been accused of having an ageing squad, and it seems true

PREMIER LEAGUE - AVERAGE AGE OF FIRST-TEAM INCLUSION 1. Manchester United - 22.90 2. Liverpool - 23.07 3. Arsenal - 23.12 4. Newcastle United - 23.33 5. Southampton - 23.48 6. Chelsea - 23.98 7. Everton - 24.12 - Aston Villa - 24.12 9. Tottenham Hotspur - 24.32 10. Swansea City - 24.33 11. West Ham United - 25.25 12. Stoke City - 25.27 13. Burnley - 25.37 14. West Bromwich Albion - 25.66 15. Sunderland - 25.74 16. Queens Park Rangers - 26.08 17. Hull City - 26.25 18. Crystal Palace - 26.30 - Leicester City - 26.30 20. Manchester City - 26.64 Advertisement

Barcelona and Real Madrid both rank within the top 10 for integrating young players across Europe in a table topped by David Moyes' Real Sociedad with an average age of just 21.75 years old.

Only Italian side Atalanta (27.4) and Eibar of Spain (26.8) rank worse than City in the table that takes in every team from Europe's top five leagues: the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1.

Louis van Gaal's policy of giving young players a chance at United was evident from his first game in charge back in August. Against Swansea at Old Trafford, he gave debuts to Tyler Blackett and Jesse Lingard from the club's academy.

Meanwhile, City's notoriously ageing squad could evidently do with some young blood that it isn't getting so far.

Liverpool, Arsenal and Newcastle United all sit within the Premier League's top four in the table, while champions Chelsea - who have not had a youth product become a first-team regular since John Terry - are sixth.

But it seems that the best place for young talent to get a chance at elite level is in France and their Ligue 1 championship. Four of the Europe-wide top five clubs are French, and the average age of their debutants is 23.66 compared to 24.78 in the Premier League.

That overall Premier League average is the second-highest of any of the top five leagues, only beaten by Italy's Serie A.

TOP 10 YOUNGEST TEAMS IN EUROPE'S TOP FIVE LEAGUES 1. Real Sociedad (Spain) - 21.75 2. Nice (France) - 21.92 3. Marseille (France) - 22.06 4. Lyon (France) - 22.09 5. Toulouse (France) - 22.29 6. Werder Bremen (Germany) - 22.37 7. Real Madrid (Spain) - 22.44 8. Schalke (Germany) - 22.58 9. Barcelona (Spain) - 22.66 - Borussia Dortmund (Germany) - 22.66 Advertisement

Neymar is part of a Barcelona team that score highly in the table, having made his debut at the age of 21

Real Madrid's Raphael Varane made his debut for the Spanish club at 18 to contribute to their low average