Portuguese and Brazilian youth football legends in new deal

Sporting Clube de Portugal has signed a partnership with Internacional de Porto Alegre, focusing on youth training and the sharing of scouting information. Representing Sporting CP were Alvalade board members Rui Caeiro and Luís Roque, in addition to SAD administrator Guilherme Pereira. For the Brazilians, vice-president Roberto Melo and director of football Deive Bandeira were on hand.

"Inter is one of Brazil's most historic clubs in term of youth training", said Luís Roque reflecting on the deal, continuing: "The club has sent a lot of players to Europe in recent years and they have a really rich training tradition. That is why we wanted to sign this partnership. Our histories coincide and so do out interests. This will be about sharing information on players...These agreements include players who are at the advanced stages of youth football and who can come into our B team. It complements what we already do and who knows, maybe even a Sporting Academy in Brazil could materialise."

Roberto Melo was also visibly satisfied with the deal, noting: "It is a pleasure to be here to sign this partnership, which I think is really important to our two clubs, who are both known for their youth football. Both clubs have more than 100,000 members and more than 100 years of history. I am sure this will translate into a successful partnership."

CIES study puts Alvalade well ahead of the rest of the Portuguese pack

Sporting CP occupies 4th place in terms of youth training in European football, in a study undertaken by the International centre for Sports Studies (CIES). Alvalade sits just behind Ajax, Partizan and Dynamo Zagreb in terms of players participating in European leagues.

A total of 54 players produced at the Sporting Academy can be found across Europe, eight of which are still playing at Alvalade.

Aurélio Pereira in UEFA interview about the Alvalade youth system

He arrived in Alvalade at the age of just 14 and years later he was invited back to the club by Hilário, where he would remain for two decades as a youth team coach. In July 1988 he opened the youth football department and went on to discover Luís Figo, Cristiano Ronaldo, Paulo Futre, Simão Sabrosa, Ricardo Quaresma, Nani and an endless list of others.

Aurélio Pereira sat down with UEFA this week to reflect in his time with the Sporting Academy, even revealing some of the tricks to his magical recipe for nurturing talent.

“As soon as we made contact with a player coming from far away, our objective focuses on bringing him over to the Sporting Academy. We are responsible for a massive change in the lives of young players who could become greats one day. We look to build up the lads as players, but also as men. We focus on everything involved in their development and that forges a special link between us. I have known some of the lads who are now in the main team since they were just 12 years' old. We are like family", opened the Alvalade scouting legend, going on to speak about Cristiano Ronaldo: "When we were building the Academy, the players had to move away from the old stadium and come and live at the residence. There was a road nearby where Ronaldo would go. He would put weights on his legs and when the traffic lights turned green he started sprinting. He did that a lot, because he thought it would give him speed and strength. That gives us an idea of what these lads go through."