It will come as no surprise to a lot of people that the big guns of English football - the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and others - have the best academies, but one club that may surprise neutrals with their youth setup is Derby County.

Derby's academy officially opened its doors in 1997, at the same time that they moved to the Pride Park stadium, and since then they've produced some quality players.

But in more recent years, the academy - especially the under-18 setup - has reached new heights, and they became the champions of England for the 2018/19 season, fending off Liverpool on goal difference to win the U18 Premier League.

That team included current first-team players Jason Knight, Max Bird, Louie Sibley and other talents, so you can see why the setup is so highly regarded, and it led to them mixing it with Europe's big boys in the UEFA Youth League last season, beating Borussia Dortmund before bowing out to Red Bull Salzburg.

Who are the ten best players to come through Derby's youth system though? Let's take a look and rank them from ten to one.

Derby fans are probably not too fond of Camp after he ended up joining their biggest rivals in Nottingham Forest, but there's no denying that at one stage he was a very good Championship goalkeeper.

Camp made 89 league appearances for the Rams as a youngster, but joined QPR in 2007 and immediately became their first-choice.

He ended up at Forest two years later though and spent the next four years at the City Ground, playing 163 league games for them and becoming a much maligned figure amongst Derby fans.

Camp has become a bit of a journeyman in recent years but was playing regular Championship football as recent as last season for Birmingham City - he's a definite success story of the academy.

What were the chances of two good goalkeepers coming through at Derby at the same time?

Whilst Grant spent the majority of his youth career at Watford, he was picked up by the Rams in 2000 as a trainee before going on to sign pro terms, which makes him an academy graduate.

Grant was Derby's first-choice stopper between 2002 and 2004 before being ousted by Camp - he departed for Sheffield Wednesday in 2007 but returned to Pride Park in 2013, where he made 107 more appearances to add to the 79 from his first stint.

What gives Grant a slight edge on Camp though is his experience of the Premier League, playing 28 times for Stoke in the 2016-17 campaign.

Riggott was touted as a potential star of the future as a youngster, making his debut as a teenager in the Premier League back in 2000.

Whilst at the Rams he was capped nine times by England for their under-21 team, and made 91 league appearances for the club before his departure in 2003.

After being named their Player of the Year for the 2000/01 season, Riggott was linked with a move away from Pride Park (Dave Jones mentioned several years later that he was a Liverpool target) but he ended up joining Middlesbrough in January 2003 along with Malcolm Christie.

Riggott was very talented and that kept him around the Premier League, but it was injuries that stopped him from getting to that next level, and after leaving Boro in 2010 he ended up making just two more career appearances before retiring.

A few current Derby players make this list and the first of them is Louie Sibley, who obviously hasn't achieved much in football so far but his potential is limitless.

After being a success in the under-18 team that won the Premier League in 2019, Sibley was given his chance in Derby's first team last season - initially in the EFL Cup but he then made his league debut in December against Reading.

It was months later though where he really grabbed people's attention. The midfielder scored a stunning goal against Blackburn in March on his first league start for the club, and then in Derby's next game - which was three months later because of COVID-19, he fired in a hat-trick against Millwall.

Sibley ended the season with five goals in 11 games, but he's failed to hit those kind of heights this season and after 22 appearances he's still looking for his first goal.

He still has development to go through, but Sibley is well on his way to becoming one of the top talents to come through the academy.

Another recent academy breakthrough, Bogle was handed a place in Derby's first team by Frank Lampard before the 2018/19 season began, and the right-back quickly made his mark.

Performances in his first season led to Bogle being capped by England under-20's, and after another impressive campaign last season, the 2o-year-old secured a Premier League move to Sheffield United for what their local paper claimed as £3.5 million - which would be a huge bargain for his quality.

After just six months at Bramall Lane, Bogle has equalled his season-best goal tally from the right-wing-back position, scoring twice in 11 Premier League games and with the Blades looking likely to be relegated back to the Championship, he could end up being the top right-back in the league next season.

Like Sibley, Knight was part of Derby's talented under-18 side from a few years ago and he was a regular for the whole season under Phillip Cocu in 2019/20.

Some may have thought that Sibley was the more exciting of the two due to his goalscoring exploits in such a short space of time in 2020, but Knight may very well be the one to fetch the club more money, and he's also the better player right now.

After scoring six times last season, Knight's performances have continued into this campaign. He has been capped by the Republic of Ireland and was even handed the captain's armband by Wayne Rooney for a few games.

If Derby's finances are still uncertain in the summer, expect Knight to be one of those who may leave for a big fee - it wouldn't be a shock to anyone if he performs well in the top flight.

Midfielders are the one position that Derby seem to excel in producing, and Hendrick is one of those that has gone onto bigger and better things in the Premier League and on the international stage.

Hendrick was a regular for five straight seasons, and his performances in the Championship made Burnley pay a club-record fee for him, which was believed to be £10.5 million.

The Ireland international was never prolific in Sean Dyche's system, but he still got a move to Newcastle United this season when his contract at the Clarets expired, but his performances, goal-scoring and the fee he generated for the Rams puts him high on this list.

Hughes was perhaps a lucky pick-up for the Rams in the end, having been on the books of rivals Nottingham Forest prior to him signing scholarship terms with Derby in 2011.

The midfielder quickly stood out at youth level and by the end of his first year as a scholar he was making first team appearances, becoming a regular in the following campaign.

A damaged cruciate ligament robbed him of a full season at Pride Park in the 2015/16 season, and he would go on to join Premier League side Watford in 2017 for £8 million.

Hughes finds himself ahead of Hendrick based on his footballing abilities rather than the latter having more international caps, and Hughes could easily find himself back in the top flight next season whether or not the Hornets achieve promotion.

Carsley is the only player here that was brought through the club before the academy was developed in 1997 - he spent two years as a YTS between 1992 and 1994 before going on to make an impact for the Rams in both the First Division and then the top flight for the next five seasons.

A real tough-tackling midfielder, Carsley's career was definitely a success after departing the club. He was converted into a more advanced midfielder at Blackburn, which earned him a move back to the Premier League with Coventry, but it's his spell with Everton that cemented Carsley's spot as a really good player for a mid-table side.

Carsley made 166 appearances for the Toffees, and between 1997 and 2008 he also played 40 times for the Republic of Ireland - he definitely deserves to be ranked second.

Huddlestone was a real early developer and that was spotted by ex-Derby boss George Burley, who handed him his debut at the age of 16, and compared his passing ability to that of Glenn Hoddle.

With his standout performances at such a young age, Huddlestone was never going to be around at Pride Park for that long, and he penned a deal with Tottenham Hotspur in 2005 for a £2.5 million fee.

He didn't really star for Spurs until 2006 though, but his abilities as a midfielder shone through eventually and he was capped four times by England during his stint at White Hart Lane.

He eventually moved on to Hull City where he once again showed his Premier League class, before returning 'home' to Derby in 2017 - and he still remains the best academy product to this day that has come through the club.