Benfica Campus: A Legacy of Excellence
Celebrating 19 years of excellence, Benfica Campus has evolved into a world-leading youth development powerhouse since its inauguration on September 22, 2006. This state-of-the-art facility is more than just a training ground; it's a comprehensive project that fosters athletic, personal, and educational growth, embodying Benfica's identity and ambition.
The campus has nurtured numerous talents, including Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias, Joao Neves, Goncalo Ramos, Joao Felix, and Joao Cancelo...
Benfica Campus has reached a milestone, celebrating 19 years since its inauguration on September 22, 2006. This esteemed academy has evolved into a hub for sporting, human, and educational excellence, solidifying Benfica's position as a leader in youth development worldwide.
A Glimpse into Benfica's Youth Academy
The campus boasts impressive infrastructure, including nine pitches, two auditoriums, and cutting-edge gyms. With a focus on holistic development, Benfica Campus prioritizes both athletic and academic excellence, fostering well-rounded individuals.
Benfica Campus has produced numerous talented players, with eight out of 10 graduates going on to become professional footballers. The academy's emphasis on education, combined with its rigorous training programs, has yielded remarkable results, including 80 national and international trophies.
Benfica Campus, the training centre, exceeded expectations with its transparency and impressive facilities. The visit provided a glimpse into the excellent organisation and working conditions that have contributed to the academy's reputation as one of the best in the world.
The campus has nurtured numerous talents, including Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias, Joao Neves, Goncalo Ramos, Joao Felix, and Joao Cancelo, who all began their journeys to stardom at Seixal. The academy's commitment to fostering young talent is evident in its up-and-coming players, who display a notable sense of respect and camaraderie.
A standout aspect of the visit was the warm and welcoming atmosphere, with everyone, including staff, coaches, and employees, consistently greeting visitors with a smile and a “good morning.” This friendly demeanor reflects the academy's values and suggests a strong foundation for its young players to grow and thrive.
“The personal and social development department plays an absolutely essential role in this regard. We recognise the importance of this department. We mustn't forget that we're talking about boys between the ages of 12 and 18,” Muller said.
“There is permanent monitoring. We have rotating tutors who are always present in these kids' lives, as well as coaches and other support staff. This close monitoring is absolutely essential, but so is a whole other view of society that they might not even find at school.
“There is a complementarity of social action that begins to be instilled in young people right from the start. Foster homes, disadvantaged families, and social responsibility institutions. There's a lot of proximity. So Benfica has to play this role in the community.”
Rui Costa's Dual Role with Benfica
Rui Costa is closely associated with Benfica, both as a former player and in his current roles as president. He previously served as the club's sporting director from 2008 and later took over as president in 2021. Under his leadership, Costa has been instrumental in developing Benfica's esteemed campus, a hub for nurturing young talent.
“Benfica Campus is of strategic importance to consolidate Benfica, both in sporting terms and in its immense international reach. It is in our 'Talent Factory' that we instil and develop the values and principles of 'Playing the Benfica Way', developing some of the best athletes and professionals in the world, both in terms of competition and in their human and social development. For us, Benfica Campus represents Benfica's identity and soul, pushed to the limit to win," Rui Costa said.
“Benfica Campus is and always will be one of the strongest pillars of our vision for the future of Sport Lisboa e Benfica,” added the Reds' president.
Benfica Campus: Selection Process and Boarding Life
Around 80 young talents reside in boarding at Benfica Campus, selected from a pool of 200 candidates through a rigorous scouting process. These young athletes are primarily sourced from the Training and Development Centres.
Scouting Network
Benfica Campus has an extensive scouting network that identifies top young players in various locations. Talent identification occurs at multiple centers, including:
Greater Lisbon: Cidade Universitaria
Outside Lisbon:
Benfica's global reach extends to various international centers and partnerships, including:
- Luxembourg
- Lithuania
- Malta
- Morocco
- United States (Florida): Benfica Residential Academy
Technical partnerships in:
These international connections are part of Benfica's 'Formar à Benfica' methodology, which aims to unify youth development across different locations.
“Formar à Benfica is a platform that we make available to our coaches, regardless of whether they are at the Benfica Campus, the EUL, the training and development centres, or in our academies abroad, because, in the meantime, Benfica has chosen a path of international expansion and therefore has a number of academies around the world, a project that it intends to continue developing,” explains the general manager.
“This platform is made available to the coaches who are there. It's a very detailed platform on how Benfica sees its youth development in all aspects, both in terms of player profiles, what is expected by position, what is expected in tactical terms from the team, and what the model of play is.
“In all these parameters, we invite our coaches to follow a model, believing, of course, with some flexibility, that they can add something, but following a basic model that we consider will develop a certain type of player.”
The development of Benfica's methodology was a collaborative effort spanning years, involving informal discussions and refinement. Luis Araujo, a key figure at Benfica Campus since its inception, worked closely with youth coaches to shape the approach, focusing on cultivating a distinct player profile aligned with Benfica's DNA.
“For many years, the fact that we shared the same workspace created many informal moments of debate and discussion about how to play, the player profile, the Benfica player profile, the position profile, the training model - it was these informal discussions that gave us what we thought could be the training model and the player development model,” Araujo adds.
“Then there was the next step, which is very much within each of us. Then all the coaches who came in gave their input into what was defined as 'Formar à Benfica'.
“There's a document, a player development model that we make sure is never closed, it's always in development and we're always in constant discussion for another addition to what our player development model is.”
The Benfica Way: Players Like Joao Fonseca
Central defender Joao Fonseca, currently part of Benfica's B team, credits the Aveiro Training and Development Centre as a crucial step in his journey. After joining Benfica Campus nine years ago, Fonseca has developed into a promising young player, reflecting the Benfica way of nurturing talent.
He said: “I think it's all very professional. The biggest difference I felt was really in terms of facilities. The coaches were all very competent. Then we'd end up having tournaments in which various CFT players would get together, we'd socialise well, and I think those were very happy moments that I'll always remember.”
You might have expected a change when he arrived at the facilities in Seixal, but that didn't happen: “It's a continuation. The work carried out there was already very similar, and it was an easy adaptation in terms of training.”
According to Guilherme Muller, Benfica Campus prioritizes developing players who embody the club's identity and style, with the ultimate goal of seamlessly integrating them into the first team. This approach remains consistent, regardless of changes in the first-team coaching staff.
The general manager stated: “The club has a model, the club has a profile that it believes in. It believes in a player and in what Benfica values are. The player, as an example of values on and off the pitch, but also in the four usual dimensions of performance.
“Regardless of the quality of the coaches, regardless of the experience of the coaches, it can't be dependent on the profile of a particular coach who may, at one point, be at the club, but then no longer. What we want is for the A-team coach, when he looks at these youngsters, to be able to recognise in them characteristics of what is typically expected and what the fans expect.
“It won't be the same if the model of the game the boy has spent five, ten or fifteen years playing is different, if the type of instructions he is given are different, if the type of positioning on the pitch is different, if the way he should behave on the pitch is different. So what we want is for there to be a lot of uniformity in the way we prepare our players,” he explained.
Benfica Campus boasts an impressive success rate, with 8 out of 10 players going on to become professional footballers.
“I don't know if there are many universities with this employability rate. So I think it's a real reason for parents to believe that their children could one day become footballers. Even if not necessarily in Benfica's first team,” adds Muller.
From Young Talent to Global Stars
Benfica Campus has produced numerous success stories, with many players achieving world-class status. Alumni include Ruben Dias, Joao Neves, Bernardo Silva, Goncalo Ramos, Joao Cancelo, and Joao Felix, among others. Some of these talented individuals were even coached by Luis Araujo during their formative years. The campus's impressive track record speaks to its commitment to developing young talent and preparing them for success at the highest level.
“I often say that these are the greatest trophies a youth football coach has during his career,” explained the coach. “Fortunately, because I work at Benfica, I've won a lot of team titles, but seeing a youth player make his first-team debut and establish himself in international and professional football fills us with pride.
“At home I've often been moved to see these players triumph. So it's the realisation that the goal we set ourselves and committed to with Benfica is being achieved. But to say that it's a goal that's been achieved, no, because this is our job and we have to keep challenging ourselves so that more players can reach these heights.”
A Legacy of Excellence: 80 Trophies and Counting
Benfica Campus has amassed an impressive collection of 80 national and international trophies since its inception. The prestigious 2021/2022 Youth League title is among these accolades. According to Guilherme Muller, the campus prioritizes long-term success over short-term gains, recognizing that sometimes taking a step back in youth competitions can lead to more players breaking into the first team, ultimately affirming the project's vision.
Muller explains: “I have to answer yes to that question. That's our mission. That's what I work for every day, that's what I've been asked to do. Although, of course, I'm extremely pleased and thrilled with any of the titles I won last year. As well as the national championships, also the Under-23 Revelation Cup, because it was the first time we'd won a title at this level, which is a difficult level within Benfica; it's very demanding for both the coach and the player.
“I'm therefore very satisfied, not least because the Benfica environment, its members and fans, demand it. We have to refresh our mission from time to time, to make sure that nobody forgets that what we really have to do here is get at least two players a year into the A team. That's our mission.”
Araujo interjects: “Without a doubt, the main objective is to develop players for the first team, but without ever forgetting a very important part of player development, which is the social part and the citizenship part of the youngsters, whom their parents entrust to us and many of whom, at the age of 12 or 13, leave their families to come and live here. So we also have an added responsibility to develop not only players, but also men.”
€800 Million Windfall: Benfica Campus's Youth Sales Phenomenon
Benfica Campus has generated a staggering €800 million in revenue from youth sales, a testament to its exceptional youth development model. This impressive figure surpasses rivals Sporting and FC Porto, solidifying Benfica's reputation as a powerhouse in nurturing and selling young talent.
“It's very good for several reasons. Because it shows that the return on investment made in Benfica's youth development is enormous. There will be few companies that, with the investment that has been made over the last nineteen years in Benfica Campus and the rest of the youth system, can achieve such a good return,” said Muller.
To combat the “sell-on” trend, Benfica focuses on retaining young talent for longer, recognizing that competing with European giants is often unrealistic.
The Benfica Campus director adds: “I think that if we're serious about this assessment, it's also difficult for the footballer. Anyone, no matter how much they love their job, works with the aim of earning money to support themselves for the rest of their life. And so, naturally, if the aim is to earn money from their work, if they are offered a lot more money to do the same job, they will tend to accept.
“And then there's the sporting perspective. The truth is that at the moment, Benfica doesn't have the same ambitions as other powerhouses with much more money. While it's obvious that Real Madrid is a super contender to win the Champions League, or the Club World Cup, or anything else, and the same applies to Barcelona and others, it's not like that for Benfica.
“Benfica has that ambition, and rightly so, according to its history, but it's not obvious that it's the first candidate. I think our challenge in youth football is to create more quality players so that one will have to finish his journey in year one, another we'll be able to keep in year two and another we'll be able to in year three. I think that this being our challenge, we have to try to prepare them even better so that they can then be given more opportunities to show that they can carry this plan through to the end.”
But it's not just the players who are coveted at Benfica Campus. Many coaches and other staff members can't be retained to work at Benfica: “Benfica has a clear and defined plan for developing its resources, and so they are also lured by competitors with more financial capacity than Benfica has, and so this has also been a reality in Benfica's youth football in recent times. Benfica can't compete with this influx of wealthy clubs from all over the world.”
Benfica Campus: Where Talent Thrives
The campus boasts cutting-edge facilities, rivaling those of top European clubs, spread across 19 hectares. Despite being completed 19 years ago, it remains a hub for growth and development.
With 200 employees, the campus provides a comprehensive support system, catering to all aspects of a player's life, including training, education, and leisure time, ensuring they have everything they need to succeed.
Muller further stated: “This sports facility has evolved over time. From 2006 to now, it has evolved in different ways, but mainly in its own size. It started with just a few pitches, it has expanded a lot; it started with fewer teams, it increased the number of teams; it increased the number of support services for the players, and, therefore, today, I have no doubt that it's at the level of the best.
“What we're feeling, of course, is that the pressure has increased a little. Benfica has continued to grow in terms of the number of teams. The senior women's football team also already uses this facility. In the meantime, compared to when it started, an under-23 team has been created.
“The B team also didn't start from the beginning, so what we feel is that there is some pressure at the moment and that, in the not too distant future, we may have to consider the possibility of this infrastructure possibly growing, particularly in terms of pitches.
“I'll give you an interesting comparison. We were at Chelsea for the Youth League match. In terms of working conditions for the people and even the infrastructure for the players, I honestly think we're better off than Chelsea. In terms of methodology, we're second to none. We have six grass pitches, and let's say two and a half synthetic pitches. They have one synthetic pitch and thirty-one grass pitches.”
Despite limitations in certain areas, Benfica's youth development system continues to produce remarkable talents, often flying under the radar before making a significant impact.
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