That is certainly not the case at Monaco, who afford players the chance to develop within the first-team set-up, while also providing an environment in which they can thrive.
Academy players regularly train with the first team and those that don’t train with Traore at an adjacent pitch at the club’s new performance centre in La Turbie.
“Today we have a clear process to allow [the academy players] to have exposure to the first team. This is how you create the path,” says Scuro. The emphasis is on incrementalism, not flash-in-the-pan moments.
Such experiences allow the players to adapt to the increased physicality of the professional game – tactical adaptation is not an issue with the two sides practising the same brand of high-intensity, attacking football.
It is one of many synergies embodied by Damien Perrinelle, former manager of the Groupe Elite and now an assistant to first team manager Adi Hutter.
The Frenchman remains an ever-present at Youth League matches, relaying the individual performances from the academy side, such as that from Joan Tincres, who was on the bench to face Benfica in the Champions League just hours after impressing in the Youth League game. Progress does not go unrecognised.
“I wouldn’t say that it is a reward but we are attentive to encouragement,” says Muet, referring to this concept where – at least – one academy product is included in the Youth League and Champions League squad on the same day.
“We are attentive to giving positive signals to players that have the mindset that we want and also to send a message to the players that don’t [yet] have that mindset.”
But more broadly, the space within the first-team squad is created in order to allow Monaco’s academy to flourish.
“For me, we should be two-thirds development players and one-third performance players. Monaco can’t have a 26 or 27-year-old player that doesn’t have a real impact on the team because we have to develop young players,” says Scuro, who has to balance player development and high-level performance, both in the Champions League and in Ligue 1.
Scuro, however, wants to go further: “Today we have six academy players in the squad, the desire is, through the process, to raise this number that we can achieve a point where we have 50% of the squad coming from the academy. We know that this is a big challenge and a long-term process.”
Europe’s sixth-most valuable academy according to figures from the CIES Football Observatory, Monaco are putting their players in the shop window thanks to their Champions League performances this season.
“We have lots of young talents: Ben Seghir, Akliouche, Lamine Camara… No-one knows them really well in Europe. It is a good stage to present them,” said Hutter before Monaco beat Barcelona in their opening Champions League game this season.
Producing such players consistently is a big part of Scuro’s mandate, set by owner Dmitry Rybolovlev.
The end goal, however, is not necessarily for Monaco to become a form of talent factory, polluting the squads of Europe’s elite – player retention is also on the agenda.
“There is too much focus on business in football, our job is to build a team, build performance, so if a player comes from the academy, becomes a consistent player at a professional level and plays here for 10-15 years, it is a big achievement, it doesn’t mean that it is a failure because this player was never sold.”
“The academy is a crucial pillar in the organisation,” adds Scuro.
It is certainly one that assures the club’s structural integrity, both on and off the pitch.
