Villarreal's football academy has produced a string of world-class players, including Rodri, Nicolas Jackson, and Pau Torres. This success is attributed to the academy's strong sense of community and its impressive facilities.
Villarreal winger Alex Baena scored in Spain 's 5-3 win over France and has been linked with moves to Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle. Villarreal are from a small industrial city of the same name in eastern Spain with a population of 50,000. Yet, despite a catchment area about the size of Yeovil, the academy has trained world-renowned stars like Rodri , Nicolas Jackson , Pau Torres and their current Spain winger Alex Baena.
Over the past 25 years Villarreal's academy graduates have helped establish the club as perennial overachievers.Since then they have qualified for Europe 19 times, reached the last four of the Champions League on three occasions - in 2006, 2016 and 2022 - and even won the Europa League four years ago. Villarreal chief executive Fernando Roig stressed to BBC Sport no single person at the club 'is a magician'. In a way maybe Villarreal and AFC Richmond, the team managed by American Ted Lasso in the hit comedy series, aren't too dissimilar. Both are small clubs who rely on a sense of togetherness to compete with much bigger teams around them.The youth academy has about 800 players across 45 teams - 39 boys teams and six girls teams. When Villarreal won the Europa League four years ago, 16 members of the squad had come through the club's youth set-up. Their main base is the Jose Manuel LLaneza training ground which opened in 1998. More than 100 academy players permanently live on the site which even has its own mini stadium. It has a very large footprint and is part of the reason why Villarreal has more football pitches per resident than any other Spanish city. 'I think when you live at this club the first thing you feel is it's like your second family,' winger Baena, who has been at Villarreal since he was 10, told BBC Spor
Villarreal Football Academy Rodri Nicolas Jackson Pau Torres Spain
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