By their very own excessive requirements, Benfica are in a silverware drought, final profitable the Portuguese league title in 2019. However based on Pedro Mil-Homens, it looks like their trophy cupboard is bursting.
As director of Benfica’s youth academy, Mil-Homens’ job is to not fear about beating rivals Porto or Sporting or progressing within the Champions League. His major concern is to make sure the membership produces the very best younger expertise in Portugal.
This season, Benfica’s aspect incorporates three gamers who’ve handed by means of these doorways: prime scorer Goncalo Ramos, who scored a World Cup hat-trick for Portugal in opposition to Switzerland final 12 months; Portugal defender Antonio Silva and midfielder Florentino.
The trio are serving to propel Benfica in direction of the league title and they’re on monitor to achieve the Champions League quarter-finals, sitting on a 2-0 lead over Membership Bruges earlier than Tuesday’s last-16 second leg at dwelling.
“All of us prefer to win trophies however our actual trophies, the vital ones, are seeing our Florentino, our Antonio Silva and our Goncalo Ramos within the first crew,” says Mil-Homens.
“Not simply reaching the crew however displaying the standard and capability to remain there for a protracted time period. Having the ability to present they’re ready, that they’ve the standard, the mentality, the efficiency to be on that degree. When every part occurs like that I can loosen up on the couch and say we now have achieved our mission.”
Benfica’s academy has one other goal, one Mil-Homens doesn’t shrink back from: to provide gamers the membership can promote at a excessive worth to fund transfers for skilled gamers.
Final 12 months, the CIES Soccer Observatory declared Benfica’s academy essentially the most worthwhile on this planet, producing 379m euros (£336m) since 2015. Actual Madrid was ranked second with 330m euros, with Monaco third on 285m euros.
In 2019 Benfica bought Joao Felix, who had just one full season within the first crew, to Atletico Madrid for a membership report £115m.
A 12 months later they pocketed £65m for promoting Ruben Dias, who joined the membership aged 13, to Manchester City.
Dias has three different Benfica alumni as his team-mates at Metropolis – goalkeeper Ederson, Bernardo Silva and Joao Cancelo, who joined Bayern Munich on mortgage in January.
Homegrown gamers are only one facet of Benfica’s money-printing operation, which has seen them generate an estimated £1.14bn in switch gross sales over the previous decade.
An enormous community of scouts additionally helps them unearth gamers as they’re rising.
Enzo Fernandez, who joined Chelsea for a Premier League report £106m in January, was signed from River Plate for less than £15m final summer season. Then there may be Darwin Nunez, who joined in 2020 for £21m and in 2022 was sold to Liverpool for £85m.
‘We have now to be as lively as doable’
One of many key components behind the success of Benfica’s academy is having the ability to immerse kids within the membership’s tradition as quickly as doable. Final season 70% of the gamers the academy signed had been aged between six and 12.
To additional enhance their youth set-up in 2008, Benfica opened 4 additional academies throughout the nation so gamers can develop into a part of the membership with out having to relocate to Lisbon with their households.
It means Benfica compete with fellow top-flight golf equipment Braga and Porto for the very best younger expertise within the north of Portugal.
Ramos and Silva each got here by means of expertise centres based mostly outdoors the capital.
“In larger Lisbon we now have two million individuals and this isn’t sufficient by way of catchment space, so we attempt to be as lively as doable throughout the nation,” Mil-Homens explains.
“Having them for lengthy durations offers us the chance to transmit the tradition of the membership.”
Aggressive reserve groups ‘an enormous benefit’
In the case of producing the very best kids, Benfica and different prime Portuguese sides even have one weapon Premier League golf equipment don’t: the chance to blood younger gamers of their reserve groups within the aggressive environments of the second division.
Whereas Premier League golf equipment should ship their younger gamers out on mortgage to provide them skilled expertise, Benfica kids can minimize their tooth within the second division with the B crew whereas nonetheless coaching with the primary crew.
It’s common for gamers to play for the under-19 crew within the youth league, the B crew within the second division and the primary crew, competing for the top-flight title, all in the identical season.
“This can be a big benefit,” says Mil-Homens.
“We attempt to regulate the coaching degree based on the potential of the participant we now have in our palms, in any other case it could be a waste of time for them.
“The gamers like this as they really feel they’re competing, coaching in an setting that gives them extra moderately than in the event that they stayed with their age group.”
‘Mentality makes the distinction’
Benfica offers gamers the instruments to succeed, however solely a choose few stay within the first crew or reach Europe’s prime leagues.
Since Mil-Homens joined the membership, two gamers specifically have stood out – Dias and Joao Felix.
But it surely certainly is not going to be lengthy earlier than Ramos and Silva comply with Joao Felix and Dias’ paths to Europe’s elite golf equipment for staggering switch charges.
Mil-Homens want to see some gamers keep somewhat longer than the one full season Joao Felix had, however he’s underneath no illusions that the academy gamers who grew up on the membership will spend most of their careers elsewhere.
“The right situation could be that we now have the participant in our first crew giving us the soccer efficiency he is in a position to do over a sure variety of seasons, and afterwards additionally giving us the return on our funding,” he says.
“On this business typically there are not any guidelines, there are alternatives and golf equipment that come and pay the price they should pay to deliver the participant.
“We want to have them for longer durations however we now have to know typically it would not occur.”
