Welcome to issue #028 of Contemporary Football, your inside look at how the game really works behind the scenes.
Monday to Friday, you’ll uncover a new perspective on football business, and sometimes a deeper story that sharpens your thinking and gives you an edge in the beautiful game.
If you need support on your football journey, just write me.
Saturday morning, back from Warsaw and still at the airport, I came across a story that made me stop for a moment.
A kid from La Masia.
Just 11 years old.
145 goals in 52 games.
And already a commercial deal with Nike.
His name is Destiny Kosiso Ejiofor.
I don’t usually enjoy the hype around very young players.
But this one says something about where football is heading.
The powerful agent
145 goals in one season is insane for any age.
For a 11-year-old, it’s something you normally see only in exceptional generations.
He comes from a football family.
Two brothers have also been through Barcelona’s academy.
The reports say he’s explosive, technically advanced, and has that instinctive understanding of space that La Masia values so much.
And then the part that made the headlines:
Nike offered him a commercial deal, perfectly legal, because it’s not a representation contract, with Pini Zahavi advising the family.
At 11.
It sounds crazy, but it’s also where the industry is going.
Google Pini Zahavi if you don’t know him.
Brands move early
Nike, Adidas, Puma… they all play the long game.
They don’t care about next year.
They care about the next decade.
If they believe you’re special, they move early to build the relationship.
Completely normal in their world.
Less normal in football fans’ world.
What this really means for clubs
This isn’t a story about a prodigy.
We’ll see in ten years whether he becomes a professional or not.
This is a story about the direction of elite development.
The industry is moving younger.
The scouting is moving younger.
The branding is moving younger.
And clubs need to prepare for this shift:
• education for families
• protection frameworks
• psychological support
• healthier environments
• realistic pathways
The earlier the spotlight arrives, the more you need strong structures around the kid.
Something that stayed with me
Zahavi said something simple in an interview:
“This is about building contacts for the future.”
And he’s right.
It isn’t about contracts.
It’s about building the ecosystem around a potential top player before he even reaches 15.
Whether we like it or not, this is the football economy we live in.
Contemporary Football take
I always remind clubs of one thing:
The hardest part in youth development is not spotting talent.
It’s protecting it.
Some kids break because of pressure.
Others because of the wrong environment.
Others because the path is not personalised.
Destiny Kosiso Ejiofor will have all the eyes on him now.
But the real story is whether Barcelona can build the right pathway around him.
The history says they know how to do it in La Masia.
And perhaps we have here a future Golden Boy winner.
Yet another one from Barcelona.
How early is too early for this kind of attention?
10?
12?
14?
Or is this simply the new normal?
Curious to hear what you think.
Federico