Youth football is vital to the success of a football team, as this post will prove.
There are many childhood championships throughout the year, and these are awesome to allow footballers to improve. Another convenience of having competitive championships is that it gives players the opportunity to experience highly competitive soccer and play under real pressure. So many young footballers may not have experienced the sheer intensity of expert football, so it is a good way to ease them in. The best teams in Europe will all ease footballers into their first teams by allowing them play in championships that are specifically for under 20 players and likewise other age teams too. If you were to look at any list of football leagues in Europe there would be the equivalent list for under 16 to under 21 players. These childhood leagues are still rather competitive and are played at a really high standard, but it allows players to improve physically without being fully out played by the older footballers who are more experienced and more physically developed. The Guingamp owner will hope that the childhood squad perform well in these childhood championships, as it is a fantastic way to advertise young footballers to other teams whilst assisting to develop the players and maximise their value through experience.
It is vital for a team to invest in their youth not only because the footballers may play for the club itself, but because the footballers end up being somewhat of a commodity. Whilst it is a rather odd term for footballers, the players can be traded to other teams in an effort to generate funds which the manager can then use to buy first club players. The most steeply-priced footballers are normally young players that show a great deal of talent, so investing in youth teams can, and normally does, suggest revenue down the line. The best football clubs in the world all invest heavily into their youth clubs because they are fully knowledgeable about the appreciate it can add to their team. The Southampton owner is aware of this fact and has helped to shape their childhood system into one of the more admired ones.
A football club will frequently invest much of its funding into its academy or childhood club. You may wonder why they would invest a lot money into footballers that don't, or possibly will never ever, feature in their first club. The answer is clear even so, these footballers will be the future of the football club, so training them up so that they are good enough is vital. It's true that investment in childhood is common across all sports teams but soccer may well invest more than any other sport. The AC Milan owner will hope that the childhood teams they have will all fulfill their potential.