Watch the full conversation on YouTube.

In Episode 7 of the Estrella Football Podcast, we talked about academies and how a player gets from youth football into a first team. That question shapes much more than the academy itself. A club that wants to develop its own players needs a pathway for them, a coach who will play them, and a plan that doesn't depend on winning promotion this season.

Two kinds of academy

A club academy runs age groups inside a football club, from around U8 up to U21, and it depends on the players who live nearby. A commercial academy sits next to those clubs. They are growing across Europe and beyond, for ambitious players who want extra training, and they are less tied to one town or one club, so they can focus on the most talented players.

Some of our clubs already have a full academy. We also want to add Estrella Football Academies as a foundational layer for the group, a pathway for players and staff into our own clubs' academies and beyond. We're currently in conversations with academies in the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and South Africa, all in bigger cities, close to where the bigger clubs are.

In Amsterdam, David has spent a lot of time with former Ajax player Nordin Wooter on how he built the Wooter Academy. It works in layers. The broadest group is already selected, with age groups inside it, and above that are levels that go up to what Nordin calls pro: players who are already professionals or play at a pro club. Many of them are Dutch players based abroad, at clubs like AC Milan or in the Premier League, who come back to train with him whenever they can. We're now talking with him about how that framework could work across the Estrella group.

A pathway all the way to the first team

Xander would start a pro club's academy around U12. In the Netherlands, that's when children move to secondary school, so it's a natural moment to invite them in. Before that, it's good for young children to play with their friends at their local amateur club. It's also hard to judge talent early, because around 12 or 13 a young player's body changes so much that it can affect how well they play.

From U12, the pathway should run all the way to U23. Many clubs we've spoken to in recent months have age groups up to U19, but no U21 or U23. Those are the years when a 19-year-old who isn't ready for the first team yet can keep developing at the club instead of leaving it.

At Estrella, we want our clubs to have the highest throughput from the academy into the first team. Part of that is giving talented players a youth contract at an early age. It doesn't have to be a big amount, but it gives a young player some peace of mind. When players can see a clear route into the first team, scouting changes too, because more players come to the club on their own.

Identity first, then the coach

A pathway only works if the first-team coach is willing to use it, so we choose coaches in a set order. First, the club decides who it wants to be and how it wants to play. From that style of play, we create profiles for each position and look for academy players who fit them. Only then do we choose a coach who wants to play that way.

It also makes changes cheaper. When a coach builds the squad around his own style and leaves after six months, the next coach often needs half a new team. When the style belongs to the club, the players stay right for the club whoever is coaching them.

A coach is judged on the next match, so it makes sense that he looks for experienced players. A clear club strategy keeps the balance between that and the long-term work of developing players. That's why we think every club in the group needs its own style of play, and a coach who wants to play it.

Young players can win

Xander saw this at PEC Zwolle, where he was CEO. In the club's most successful season there was less money to spend, so the coach played more young players. Two of them had been told at the start of the season that they could leave. The club couldn't afford replacements, so they stayed, played a big part in winning promotion back to the top division, and were later sold.

We heard something similar a few weeks ago from a Danish club. It had no budget for experienced players, convinced its coach to rely on youth players instead, and is now top of its league.

A good player doesn't have to be expensive, and experience is only one part of what a player brings. At Pro Patria, Walter Sabatini and Cristiano Piccini helped us build a new squad after we took over during the season. It's still early, but the team is winning, and it will probably cost less than half of last season's squad.

Young players still need experienced players around them to learn from, so the right balance depends on the goal. Ajax currently has one of the oldest squads in the Eredivisie because it is playing for the title, and that's a deliberate choice. At Pro Patria, promotion isn't the target this season, so we chose young players whose value grows over time.

A plan comes before promotion

When new owners or investors arrive at a club, they usually want promotion straight away. We understand that winning mentality, but we'd rather start with a plan. Promotion can be the result of that plan without being its goal.

The level a club plays at changes what that plan looks like. For a club close to the European places, buying a striker to qualify is a tactic with a clear reward, because European football can bring in around 40 million in revenue. A Serie D club is years away from that, so developing young players is the better route. In the lower divisions especially, that's where we focus.

Watch the full conversation with David, Xander, and Laura on the Estrella podcast here:

Also available on Spotify.