Welcome to issue #004 of Contemporary Football, your inside look at how the game really works behind the scenes.
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Hey everyone,
First of all, I want to sincerely thank everyone who subscribed and takes the time to read these emails!
Yesterday I was in Turin.
First stop: the Juventus Academy training center, where I met Claudio Chiellini, head of Juventus Next Gen. Then I attended the presentation of the Golden Boy 2025 winner, one of the most exciting events in football right now.
A busy but fantastic day.
Juventus Next Gen
The facilities at Juventus’ youth training center are top-level.
In fact, the first team used to train there.
With Claudio Chiellini, we talked about everything: European talents, player development, and the pathway from the U19s to the first team, with the second team as the key bridge.
Juventus was the first club in Italy to create a second team, currently playing in the third division.
Then came Atalanta (third tier), Milan (now in the fourth), and Inter (third).
Talents who graduated from Juve Next Gen
Over the years, many great players have come through Juventus Next Gen:
Huijsen, now at Real Madrid; Mbangula at Werder Bremen; Muharemovic at Sassuolo; Savona at Nottingham Forest; Soulé at Roma.
And above all Yildiz, now one of the first team’s brightest talents.
Soulé was sold for €25 million.
Huijsen for €20 million plus a sell-on clause and in Turin, they still regret letting him go.
It’s said that Juventus has built a system that has already created over €100 million in value for the first-team squad.
Yildiz alone has a market value of €75 million.
Second teams are crucial
I don’t know the annual running costs of the Next Gen project, so I can’t say for sure whether the revenues already exceed expenses. But I’d imagine they do.
Either way, it’s a success: it develops players, builds value, and will keep increasing both player trading revenues and academy-to-first-team promotions.
Other clubs are starting to see results too:
Milan has already launched two solid players — Bartesaghi and Jimenez — from its second team.
Atalanta promoted an exciting young talent, Palestra (now on loan at Cagliari).
Inter, in its first season, already has players like Topalovic and Cocchi with huge potential.
The model of the second team — after years of skepticism — is finally working in Italy.
The gap between U19 and the first team is simply too big.
Second teams are a crucial step for player development and for a club’s balance sheet.
They are becoming a true competitive advantage.
And a key pillar for financial sustainability.
Spain has known this for years.
Italy is finally catching up.
That’s all for today.
If you have questions about Juventus Next Gen, just reply to this email. I read every message.
Tomorrow I’ll tell you about the Golden Boy: a fantastic award, a brand that’s about to grow massively, and one I’ve been collaborating with for a while.
See you tomorrow,
Federico
