Martial, Mendy & Mbappe: How Monaco became Europe’s talent factory

To become what they are today – a successful club and a selling machine – Monaco have put in place the perfect system.

First their academy is excellent and has just been named the best in France. They spend around 8m euros (£7.16m) each year on it and have a very simple but effective rule: the top talents in each group are playing a year above their own age so they can develop quicker.

At youth level, they have the best scouting network in Europe. In Paris alone, they have six scouts – more than anyone else – who know everyone in every grassroots club in the capital and the suburbs. They were able to sign Mbappe at 14 because his family felt Monaco had been there pretty much all the way.

They sign the best young players in Ligue 1 – such as Lemar, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Djibril Sidibe and Benjamin Mendy – and do so at a reasonable price. Those players are eager to join because they know they will get their chance on a European stage quickly. That reputation has spread, with talent spotters in Brazil, Belgium, Portugal and the Netherlands able to identify and recruit players such as Franco Antonucci, the 17-year-old Belgian prodigy who arrived from Ajax last January.

Monaco still rely on the advice of agents, too. When Jorge Mendes, the Portuguese who represents Cristiano Ronaldo among others, mentioned little-known Benfica reserve Bernardo Silva in 2014, nobody could have guessed that three years later he would sign for Manchester City for 50m euros (£43m).

In Leonardo Jardim, they also have the perfect manager for their project. The man who led the club to their first French title in 17 years last season and a place in the Champions League semi-finals loves working with young players and developing them. He is like a teacher. Indeed, he studied for a sport degree at university in Madeira before embarking on his coaching badges.

Finally, credit must go to successive sporting managers Luis Campos and Antonio Cordon. Both have used their contacts to help Monaco’s project grow. When Cordon leaves for a Chinese football consortium in September, the club will have to find the right replacement once again.