Swansea City have been all the way up to the Premier League and have been a top-end Championship side to boot but there has also been room for youngsters to break into the first-team mix along the way.

They've had good options available to them in terms of their signings and first-team players but it hasn't always stopped academy graduates from either getting into the matchday squad, developing and being sold on or flourishing elsewhere.

The Welsh outfit then are no stranger to seeing one of their former youth players go on to thrive and have a solid career. With some of them having even become established in the top flight.

With that in mind then, here are eight of their best ever academy graduates and what they're getting up to now.

Joe Allen is the first name on this list and with good reason. Having come up through the ranks with Swansea, he then broke into their first-team and the rest is history. After five years and over 100 appearances for the Welsh outfit, he became well and truly on the radar of those in the Premier League. He didn't look out of place in the top flight - and that led to his big move to Liverpool.

Although perhaps not as successful with the Reds, he still managed nearly a century of appearances for the club before being sold on to Stoke. Still with the club, he's hit over 200 games with them now too and it shows just how reliable and hard-working he has been in the centre of the field.

Considering he now plies his trade in the Premier League too, Connor Roberts could be considered another of their best academy graduates. He too came up through the youth teams and made his mark with the Swansea first-team to start his career, impressing in over 100 games for the side.

After establishing himself in their matchday squad, he was then snapped up by top flight side Burnley. Whilst the Clarets have struggled this season - and his appearance numbers have gone down - the fact he has been able to secure a deal to take him into the Premier League shows the talent of the player and how highly he is viewed.

Jazz Richards started his youth career with Cardiff actually but ended up with Swansea before becoming a part of their first-team squad. The Swans though continually shipped him out on loan to Crystal Palace, Huddersfield and then Fulham and after racking up only 39 appearances for his parent club, he made the move to the Cottagers on a permanent basis.

A move back to Cardiff followed and now the defender is playing his football for Haverfordwest County. It's a drop off for the 31-year-old but considering that he has spent his career playing for some of the biggest clubs in the EFL, it makes him one of their best graduates to come out of the reserves.

Based on his career appearances and the amount he has made, Shaun MacDonald is next on this list. Granted, he barely featured for the Swansea after being given a chance once promoted from their youth team. However, after five different loan spells with Yeovil - that ended up with him playing for them more than his parent club - he made the permanent switch to Bournemouth.

At Bournemouth, he really began to shine and spent five years with the Cherries too racking up 84 appearances. Then came Wigan and Rotherham United too, both allowing him to keep up his frequent playing time in the EFL. However, his playing time began to decrease and he now plays for Penybont after coming out of retirement to help the Welsh side out.

Marley Watkins was developed in the Swansea youth team but ultimately never played a game for the Welsh side. Instead, he had to begin his senior career with Cheltenham Town. Watkins though has gone on to light up the leagues in England Scotland with his goalscoring, mainly for Barnsley who benefitted from his best scoring years yet back in 2015 to 2017. It bagged him a move slightly higher up to Norwich but the deal never really worked out.

Watkins is back in Scotland with Aberdeen now but he has to go down as one of the best academy graduates at Swansea because of his reliability as a decent option in attack throughout the EFL and for Inverness and Barnsley too.

Emyr Huws might never have played a game for Swansea and he might also have ended up with Man City in his youth before making the step up but the 28-year-old did actually start out in the reserves for the Swans. He was then snapped up by City but spent the entirety of his time at the Etihad being sent out on various loan deals.

His best spell - at least in terms of appearances so far - came only recently during his stint at Ipswich. The Tractor Boys though allowed him to join Colchester now, which is where he currently plays his football. He might not have had a whole lot of success yet but he's been around the Football League for a while now and earns a place on this list for over 100 career appearances to date - not a bad feat and shows he must be at least a little talented.

Potentially the most successful player to come out of the academy side in recent years because of his big move to Tottenham, Joe Rodon is the latest on this list. At 24-years-old, there is still plenty of time for the player to have even more success later on down the line too and if he can get onto the field more for Spurs, then it will certainly cement his place on this list. He's only played for two clubs so far in his career - Swansea being one - but the signs are promising.

Rodon is also a regular Wales international - and for a Swansea graduate to end up on the international stage is another achievement in itself to boot.

The final name on this list is Dan James - the man who arguably has the highest value of any Swansea academy graduate right now. The winger did start with Hull in his youth but eventually went to the Swans and then emerged in their first-team back in 2016. Upon being given the chance to shine, he certainly took the chance with both hands. The player had a failed loan spell with Shrewsbury but then returned to Wales ready to prove a point.

After looking bright for Swansea, it was Man United who came calling. They were prepared to give him a chance and he managed half a century of appearances - and the most goals he has ever scored - before they decided he wasn't part of their plans anymore and sold him to current team Leeds. With his current side, he has been able to try and help them pull away from the relegation zone with his goals and superb dribbling ability.