That is certainly not the case at Monaco, where players are offered the chance to develop within the first team while also being provided an environment in which to thrive.
Academy players train regularly with the first team and those who do not train with Traore on an adjacent pitch at the club's new performance center in La Turbie.
“Today we have a clear process to make this possible [the academy players] To have contact with the first team. “This is how you create the path,” says Scuro. The emphasis is on incrementalism, not flashes in the pan.
Such experiences allow players to adapt to the increased physicality of the professional game – tactical adaptation is not a problem as both teams play the same high-intensity attacking football.
It is one of many synergies embodied by Damien Perrinelle, former Groupe Elite manager and now assistant to first team manager Adi Hutter.
The Frenchman remains a constant presence at Youth League games, highlighting the academy's individual achievements, such as that of Joan Tincres, who was on the bench in the Champions League just hours after her impressive performance in the Youth League game against Benfica sat. Progress does not go unnoticed.
“I wouldn't say it's a reward, but we look for encouragement,” says Muet, referring to this concept where at least one youth product is included in the Youth League and Champions League squads on the same day.
“We are careful to give positive signals to the players who have the attitude we want and to send a message to the players who don’t.” [yet] have this attitude.
But more broadly, space is being created within the first team squad 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 who doesn't have a real impact on the team because we need to develop young players,” says Scuro, who has overseen the development of the team in both the Champions League and Ligue 1 Must balance players and performance at a high level.
However, Scuro would like to go further: “Today we have six academy players in the squad. The desire is to increase this number through the process so that we can reach a point where 50% of the squad comes from the academy. “We know this is a big challenge and a long-term process.”
According to figures from the CIES Football Observatory, Monaco is Europe's sixth most valuable academy and is putting its players in the spotlight thanks to their Champions League performances this season.
“We have a lot of young talents: Ben Seghir, Akliouche, Lamine Camara… Nobody really knows them well in Europe. It's a good stage to showcase them,” Hutter said before Monaco beat Barcelona in their first Champions League game this season.
Continually producing such players is a large part of Scuro's mission, set by owner Dmitry Rybolovlev.
However, the end goal is not necessarily for Monaco to become a talent hotbed and pollute the squads of Europe's elite – player retention is also on the agenda.
“In football there is too much focus on business. Our job is to build a team and deliver performance. So if a player comes out of the academy, becomes a consistent player at the professional level and plays here for 10 to 15 years, that's the case.” “That's a great success, but that doesn't mean it's a failure, because that Player was never sold.”
“The academy is a crucial pillar of the organization,” adds Scuro.
It is certainly one that ensures the structural integrity of the club both on and off the pitch.
