Benfica are now in a position to hold out
for the full value of the release clause, as
exemplified by the eye-watering €126m
fee Atletico Madrid paid for Felix despite
the striker having played little more than
half a season as a regular.
The individual ambition of each player,
rather than the need to generate transfer
revenue, is the biggest problem Benfica
face when it comes to trying to retain
their best young talent. And the conveyor
belt shows no sign of slowing down. Jota
is the latest gem in the first team and is
touted as the next superstar.
In stark contrast, Porto and even
Sporting – for so long the envy of its
rivals in terms of talent production –
have shown little inclination to further
the development of their home-grown
players. In the two matches cited earlier,
of the 28 Sporting and Porto players
who lined up against
Benfica, only two
academy players
were involved, both
for Sporting: captain
Nani and late sub
Jovane Cabral. Nani has since been sold
and Cabral was inexplicably cast aside
after showing real promise in the first
half of last season. Porto did not have
a single player who came through their
youth ranks in their 18-man squad.
Judging by the summer transfer
activity, neither the Lions nor the
Dragons are ready to put more faith in
their academies. Two of Porto’s most
promising youngsters are centre-backs
Diogo Quieros and Diogo Leite, and
when both first-choice central defenders
Eder Militao and Felipe were sold, an
opportunity opened up. Instead, the club
re-purchased 32-year-old Ivan Marcano,
who is set to play alongside veteran
Pepe. It is a pattern that has been
repeated all over the pitch, and mirrored
at Sporting, who have deemed a string of
youngsters surplus to requirements.
Benfica start 2019-20 as strong
favourites to retain its crown. Should they
do so, their flagging rivals may well be
forced into a strategic rethink.
Tom Kundertlocation in the nondescript town of
Seixal boasting neither the splendour
nor the charm of the Portuguese capital.
But the award-winning complex is now
the single most important factor fuelling
Benfica’s renewed dominance of
Portuguese football.
Critics had accused Vieira of viewing
the academy as primarily a money-
making machine as a string of talented
players were produced and sold without
Benfica fans ever seeing them shine
at the Estadio da Luz. Bernardo Silva
was the personification of this policy,
with the Manchester City wizard sold for
€15million to Monaco after just three
appearances for Benfica’s first team,
keen to avoid the then-coach Jorge
Jesus’s attempts to convert him into
a left-back.
The departure of Jesus in thesummer of 2015 brought a change
in direction, with Vieira hand-picking
coaches who were happy to use the in-
house talent. First Rui Vitoria and then
Bruno Lage – both of whom worked in
Benfica’s youth set-up before getting the
top job – have been unafraid to stake
their reputation on integrating the kids.
Academy graduates Renato Sanches,
Goncalo Guedes, Nelson Semedo and
Victor Lindelof all played major roles
in winning trophies under Vitoria. And
when they all moved on to represent
Europe’s biggest teams, they were
seamlessly replaced by the latest
crop of richly talented youngsters that
Lage expertly forged into a formidable
attacking unit in 2018-19.
“When I got the job the first thing
I thought was I’m going to get this
kid playing,” said Lage in reference to
Felix in the wake of the tremendously
successful season for both of them.
Stabilisation of the club’s finances has
also helped. Whereas in the past Vieira
was accused of selling on the cheap,P O R T U G A L
(^) P
R
I
M
E
I
R
A
(^) L
I
G
A
(^2)
0
1
9
- 2
0
(^)
Eagles...Benfica boss
Bruno Lage (pic right);
while (pic left) new
boys Caio (centre)
and Chiquinho (no19)
celebrate with
academy product Jota
Their award-winning academy is now the
single most important factor fuelling Benfica’s
renewed dominance of Portuguese football