in terms of japan china india new
players
face a completely different culture are
they mature and
open-minded enough to cope with that
the eyes of a brazilian scout and the
eyes of a scout in africa or eastern
europe
or asia is very different we expect them
to know their own market in terms of
japanese players
sanji is is an icon here in chinese
football
sanji high is on the spot here
in terms of the future i think if we get
the right
system we could get really good players
coming through the system
will we find really good young chinese
talent but also
indian talent you can change
somebody's life really and give somebody
the break that
allows them to be on the pathway to
hopefully
super starting
[Music]
i think within scouting i think what our
global network of clubs and has enabled
us to do is to be
informed the group model
creates a huge platform for us to be
able to
help fulfill a player's aspirations with
various stages on their development
journey
you know we're looking for players that
can perform at the highest level in the
champions league
semi-final in champions league final for
manchester but we're also looking for
players that will fit within a salary
cap with him
in the a-league and in melbourne so
we're also looking at different levels
across the world what that brings is an
ability to create a
global network and a global knowledge
that at any time
one of our scouts can inform a decision
in any one of our clubs
australia's in many ways has a lot of
similarities to england
in terms of the the people the the
attitudes the
the passion for for
it sports at the death there's been
australian players in the premier league
you know over the last 15 20 years and
english football is
is huge over here
the football scene across asia is is
very different
like japan historically created
really top top players then you have the
markets
like thailand which is growing but it's
growing at a
a rapid rate they're really learning
from
from the exposure that they get to to
english football to european football
implementing a lot of processes that
we're very common within in europe
mainly around the academy area
in the last three years i've traveled to
both china and india
we've spoken with clubs out there and on
on one hand logic would say that with
populations of
over a billion people that there is a
talent pool and a stock of players and
young athletes
that would enable those those countries
to become world leaders
and world champions i guess
in size of population that brings an
enormous challenge
in aligning a football vision
[Music]
most chinese people there is a belief
that this is a game that has been around
for a long time
so i think amongst people here in this
country they always felt like
they should be doing better and i think
on the other hand is the
development of professional sports in
china
is still at a growing stage
in terms of the professional structure
we have three professional divisions
and then below that there's a semi-pro
that's the pyramid we have
india in itself the the isl the indian
super league
is is still relatively young i think
we're in
um going into season seven now
the landscape there is actually quite
unique because you have the all indian
football federation who sit so
overarching
above all football and historically
there's been two leagues one being
um the eye league completely separate to
the one that mumbai city finds itself in
which is the
indian super league the indian super
league i'd say has taken precedence or
has
taken the greater prestige it's a
definitely a league or
a product that's growing
it's a really exciting time to be
involved in football in this part of the
world because you know every year
there's
huge strides being taken across the
board and i think in five to ten years
you're going to see
i see a lot more of of asian teens asian
players and
you know it's only going to be a benefit
to the world football
[Music]
what's really clear to me is that you
see world-class potential
between the age of 10 to 13
all over the world i think what then
determines the
the rate and the ability of those
players
to to reach a high level there's a few
key factors that
are fairly consistent i think the the
culture that the player grows up in
i think the society they they live
within and what's valued in that society
and the mentality therefore that that
gives that player or that family
ecosystem gives the player
is the first thing do it okay the second
key thing
is is access to good coaching
because without anything else unless you
are taught and guided in the right way
at a young age whether it be the
fundamentals of the game the skills you
don't learn
you then don't reach the next step
then it's about good enough facilities
for a young player 10 to 14 you need
enough facilities and good pitches is a
key part of that as you develop
the fourth key component is around a
competitive program to play games
because there comes a point when you are
14 and upwards
that the standard of opposition you play
and the quality of players you play
against
that's what drives your development best
against best
and then the fifth one is opportunity
there is world cast players everywhere
at 10 to 14.
what sometimes hold those players back
is the environment they're in or the
access that they've got to some of those
are the key fundamental components
football is definitely the most favorite
spot here it's the most watched sports
here
there's a lot of interest in the game in
terms of
children if they want to get involved
and join again love the game
i would say actually they're more
competing against academic
aspirations rather than against another
sport
the youth development structure is still
growing
at the club we we invest in we have our
own academy
so i in uh gradually we want to improve
that and hopefully we could
have more in-house talent within our
club
[Music]
cricket still maintains the number one
status of national sport i don't think
that's going to change
any time soon but i think what we find
is there are hotbeds of
of football interest football support
and particularly in places like kerala
in bengaluru as well the northeast of
the country we know that that's
where a lot of the good indian athletes
come from and the talent comes from
[Applause]
in terms of actual interest in football
at grassroots level
it's certainly there and it's certainly
growing that probably the key to it is
that we've never had that breakout
player that superstar who has gone on to
have a career outside of india
i don't think it's going to be a simple
journey i don't think it's going to be a
journey that's going to
happen overnight from the insights and
information we understand about the
indian market
this needs to start a much younger level
in terms of
the quality of education football
education that young players receive in
india
you're looking at you world cups under
17s
japan always have a very strong team and
in the asian
continent they're they're probably the
strongest across the board from youth
development to senior team
[Music]
i think those countries with good
coaching with good facilities with the
right competitive games program
and with the right pathways they have
the potential to create
world-class players it may not be on
mass because the the culture and the
society and the economics
and the football is not in the dna in
those of those countries yet and you
need that
but one thing that always sits on top of
all that i think is the aspiration you
need somebody you need one player
to break the mold and to make that step
and i think that then sets uh
sets the vision and the motivation and
the momentum for the rest of the country
and now de bruyne his favorite little
pocket
and in for chase is all that sumptuous
[Music]
what a pretty goal with all scouts
within the
the groups football group they have a
framework really of what the the ideal
player is and i think you just need to
watch one game of
manchester city 5013 to see the
framework that
all of the scouts are working on
from the outset we would always describe
a city type player
who possesses particular attributes in
how they play
you know great tactical awareness good
physicality brilliant technically
raheem sterling finds the bottom corner
with utter assurance
in terms of translating that into
different markets it
i think it is more challenging in in
china and in
markets like that but i think
fundamentally unless they're linked into
what the head coach wants to do and how
the head coach wants to play
you're almost going to have this this
tension between
what the coach wants as a from a player
and then what we would describe as a
city type player
i think what we've seen in a market like
japan for example where
a very similar style of football to what
we adopt in manchester
we've seen it can work
what has happened in yokohama over the
course of time since our involvement
there is
we have a really strong process of the
way we work
with the guys in car
[Applause]
[Music]
the style has been widely lauded
in japan and across asia in terms of how
yokohama
have won the title once we get the brief
of the foreign players they're looking
for we expect them to know their own
market in terms of japanese players
but the interesting bit for us is when
they say okay we've got
you know this number of spots for
foreign players this is a type of player
this is the profile
let's go out to the scouts within the
city football group
[Music]
last season when yokohama's top goal
scorer and number nine eddie girl jr
broke his leg and we essentially had
seven days to
find the replacement our scouts in
brazil recommended the forward from
their market called eric
there wasn't enough time for him to go
through a normal process but but we've
seen enough in the footage to recognize
that
he was a good player we recognized he
had the attributes that ange wanted
eric was signed and contributed
significantly towards yokohama's marks
to the title
we had a very short time skill to find a
replacement and and it was
made all the more dramatic that our lead
scout in brazil at the time carlos
santoro
was undergoing minor back surgery i
think he actually done the deal on the
on his hospital bed which shows his
level of commitment
but that type of story is very fitting
because i feel it reflects the hunger
and
dedication we have as a department to
support and contribute towards the
success of our football clubs
the most difficult thing in the in the
scout market today is there's no place
hidden
there's no one earthing a hidden gem
anymore if there's a ten-year-old kid in
east manchester that looks like messy as
a 10 year old
they're all over social media they're
always they're talked about people know
i think there will always be a clamor
for the clubs all over the world to try
to sign those players as quickly as they
can and
our job is to try to stay ahead of the
game
sanji hai is is an icon here in chinese
football
a lot of people also say in terms of
plays play overseas
he has been one of the best examples for
us
and from my understanding you know
besides being able to perform the pitch
he really integrated into the club in
manchester
in terms of the future i think again is
a very exciting opportunity for us in
this group we are the biggest
football group in the world we are so
well connected
in terms of football knowledge and
expertise and i think if we
get the right system into our club here
in china
we could get really good players coming
through the system
there's a great opportunity for us and a
really
interesting one over the next few years
to see
will we find really good young chinese
talent but also
indian talent in particular i think is
going to be the interesting one
the nature of the league and the way it
kind of works and the kind of
as i say the spectacle that it delivers
[Music]
it's exciting as a scout really to to be
able to
you know watch a player for the first
time identify that
thing that makes them a little bit
different
it's going to be a debut for kevin de
bruyne
their record signing watching the player
make their professional
appearances for the team that they were
scouted for
jesus his first touch was nearly an
assist what start
as a scout that is probably the most
satisfying moment that
that you can have is the nickname
it's a debut sergio aguero
one of the learnings i i've taken from
our senior
and experienced scouts is that it takes
a few cycles of players
to follow their journey to see why those
players made it
or they fulfilled the potentially
believe they would had or where they
where they kind of fell off that
trajectory
and then you can start to use that to
inform the next cycle of players that
come through
big moments for that young man the star
of the future
phil photo you can change somebody's
life
really signing is like winning the
lottery
she said and give somebody the break
that allows them to be on the pathway to
hopefully superstar a new face to wait
for his david rushed
into service welcome to the newcomer for
manchester city