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Youth Scouting Trends: Achieving Financial Sustainability

02 Aug, 2024

2 Min Read

By Tom Robinson

In this limited series, we look into emerging scouting trends and how Wyscout’s Youth Competitions Pack can keep you ahead of the curve.

The importance of effective scouting and recruitment has never been greater. As well as the principal aim of improving team performance, the need for many clubs around the world to find a return on investment is increasingly driving transfer strategies and even entire club models.

But, in a segmented market with fewer buyers and more sellers, balancing the books through player sales is a growing challenge. As a result, there has been a shift towards clubs recruiting younger players, given their room for development and potential for a higher future resale value.

The importance of successful youth recruitment strategies to identify and develop the ‘next big thing’ cannot be understated for clubs looking to work towards sustainability.

In Europe, there are a number of clubs that excel at profiting from youth players, whether that be nurturing their academy or identifying promising talent from across the world before selling them on at a higher price.

The example of Benfica is a truly remarkable one. Through player trading and youth development As Águias have brought in over €1 billion to finance further success.

The Portuguese giants have done this by unearthing top talents, particularly in South America (Ángel Di María, Enzo Fernández, Ederson) and smaller European leagues (Axel Witsel, Darwin Núñez), while also capitalizing on elite prospects from their academy (Rúben Dias, João Félix, Gonçalo Ramos).

Giving them the platform to play regularly in Europe and continental competitions has proved to be a shop window for bigger clubs looking for players ready for first team action. Benfica’s effective youth scouting, domestically and internationally, has allowed them to invest relatively low sums which have then paid dividends, enabling them to reinvest into their squad and finance the next round of future superstars.

In order to be the first to find the stars of tomorrow before your rivals, scouting youth tournaments is vital.

Through effective analysis of these competitions, potential prospects can be identified, monitored and recruited before their price skyrockets.

With Wyscout’s Youth Competitions Pack you can gain access to an extensive range of the best youth football around the world, including exclusive tournaments, to take your scouting and player development programs to new heights.

Discover how Wyscout data can elevate your scouting in our new FREE eBook Copinha 2024: Key Trends and Rising Stars

DOWNLOAD HERE

Geographical restrictions are removed with Wyscout, saving recruiters time and money, whilst removing the difficult decisions about which tournaments to attend when there are schedule clashes.

What’s more, objective data from top tournaments such as the Copinha - Brazil’s most prestigious youth competition - provides deeper insight into potential targets, allowing decision-makers to make the correct scouting recommendations.

As talent identification, recruitment strategies and business models evolve and adapt to the changing dynamics of modern football, the effective use of video scouting and data will be at the heart of the search to find future stars.

And with more clubs trying to unearth hidden gems and turn a profit, being one step ahead of the competition with youth scouting has never been more important.

Download our new FREE eBook ‘Copinha 2024: Key Trends and Rising Stars’ to discover how Wyscout data can elevate your scouting

Click here to get more info on the Exclusive Youth Competitions Package