BERNE (Reuters) - Southampton have the most profitable youth academy among the clubs in Europe's so-called five big leagues, according to a study published on Monday.

The Swiss-based Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) said Southampton had generated 90.2 million euros (64.72 million pounds) from the transfer of players from their youth academy, including Adam Lallana, Luke Shaw and Calum Chambers, since July 2012.

They were followed by Ligue 1 club Lille (76 million euros), La Liga pair Real Socieded (62.2 million euros) and Sevilla (51.5 million euros) and Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund (43.5 million euros).

Real Madrid were sixth (43 million euros), Barcelona seventh (38.3 million euros) and Bayern Munich a modest twelfth (31.1 mllion euros). Genoa were the best-placed Serie A team at 15th (24.5 million euros).

The fees received by Southampton represent almost 40 percent of the total incomes of current Premier League clubs for the transfer of club-trained footballers, the study said.

"Southampton is an outstanding example of how youth training can constitute a key competitive advantage both sportingly and economically," said CIES.

At league level, French Ligue 1 clubs generated the most transfer fees for youth academy players (292 million euros) and Serie A clubs the least.

(Writing by Brian Homewood in Berne; editing by Justin Palmer)