Academy, first team and sporting management
More of your own players ready to contribute. More value from your academy investment.
With the academy, first team and sporting management, we build a shared methodology to develop each player over the long term, prepare their next step and support their consolidation.
Years developing talent. Let that investment play too.
589
million euros
The academy supplies players to the first team and generates market value. When the pathway breaks, the club can end up looking outside for what it has spent years developing inside.
Revenue from transfers of players developed in Benfica’s academy over the ten years analysed by CIES Football Observatory (April 2026 report). Includes add-ons and sell-on rights. CIES Football Observatory · Most profitable football academies, 2026
Sound familiar?
What happens at the club
- 01
The player moves up a level and the criteria, demands and way of working change. It feels like joining another club.
- 02
They alternate between two teams, but no one has a full view of what they train, compete and need to recover during the week.
- 03
The chance to train with the seniors arrives, but adaptation starts that day instead of being prepared over time.
Different teams. One development pathway.
With your people we build a club-specific development methodology, connected to its identity, style of play and the first team’s demands. A common framework for everyone. A progression tailored to each player. So each stage prepares the next and whoever receives the player knows what they have been working on, what they need and how to continue.
Scientific review on the transition to senior football · Sports, 2025
01
Assess
We review how the stages connect, how the player is prepared to move up and how their work is coordinated across teams and areas. We identify what works and where to improve first.
02
Build with your team
Systems
A long-term pathway with objectives per stage, progression criteria and clear responsibilities. We agree how to prepare each transition and coordinate training, competition and recovery across teams.
People
A methodology that integrates technical, tactical, physical and personal development, tailored to the player’s maturation and needs. We support your professionals in applying it day to day and making it clear to the player and their family.
Technology
A shared view of the player’s objectives, progress and total load. The information follows their moves between teams to continue the work, without duplicating records.
Adaptation starts before moving up. The jump is real: in professional football the first team demands more high-intensity running and more sprinting than the under-18s. We prepare a progressive exposure to the next level’s demands: how to train, compete and play when there is less time and space to decide. (Match demands: under-18, under-23 and first team · Reynolds et al., 2021)
Each stage prepares the next. Your investment keeps growing.
On the pitch
Players better prepared to respond to the next level and consolidate their contribution to the first team.
In the accounts
More value from the academy investment, with your own options for the squad and chances to generate revenue.
In the team
Less friction between age groups. Each professional knows the pathway, their responsibility and how to continue the work with the player.
We track improvement with indicators agreed with the club:
- individual progress
- adaptation to the next level’s demands
- sustained involvement in the first team
- revenue from transfers of players developed at the club
The methodology stays and evolves in your club, even when the coaches change.
Where our team has worked
Your people know talent. Let’s build how to grow it.
We work with your professionals and our network of specialists to connect methodology, individual development and preparation for professional football.
The next first-team player may already be in your academy.
Tell us where their pathway is stalling and let’s see how to connect it with your team.
Tell us what worries you