The Academy works with the first team at La Turbie
Three players were permanently integrated into the first team last season. Maghnes Akliouche, Félix Lemaréchal and Yllan Okou each joined the professional ranks over the last season, making their first appearances in Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France. Since Monday, around ten Academy players have temporarily joined Philippe Clement’s squad to begin preparing for the 2022-2023 season.
Eight new faces
While waiting for the return of the Monegasque internationals, several players from the reserves and the U19s have helped to fill the ranks of the Rouge et Blanc at La Turbie, in this first week of recovery. Soungoutou Magassa, who came on in the Coupe de France against Quevilly-Rouen last January and Tiago Ribeiro, appeared in the league against Montpellier, have been joined by Eric Ayiah, Mohamed Bamba, Malamine Efekele, Enzo Couto, Mamadou Coulibaly, as well as Lisandru Olmeta, for the team’s first two collective sessions.
The U-19 finalists are out in force
Crowned European U1-7 champion with the French team recently, Olmeta, the young AS Monaco U19 goalkeeper had the privilege of training with his counterparts Alexander Nübel, Radoslaw Majecki, as well as Thomas Didillon, who is working with the club as part of an exchange with Cercle Bruges. Recently finalists in the U19 league, Bamba, Efekele, Couto and Coulibaly, who has just signed his first professional contract with the Principality club, were therefore able to rub shoulders with the senior players.
Paul Mitchell on the importance of the team’s young players
This is also true for Eric Ayiah, who scored in a friendly match against Brentford last February, and is part of the Monegasque reserves. These sessions will bring a wealth of experience for them, as they gradually discover the demands of the highest level, as the Club’s Sporting Director, Paul Mitchell, reminded us at his press conference on Tuesday: “The strategy is obvious concerning the young players from our academy; our desire is to lead them into the professional world.”
An exchange with Cercle Bruges
There’s also more on the synergies that exist with Cercle Bruges, as five reserve players had previously trained with the Groen-Zwart, in order to immerse themselves in the training methods of the side that finished tenth in the Jupiler Pro League last season, over the space of two weeks. While waiting to find out who will have the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Benoît Badiashile, Eliot Matazo or even Chrislain Matsima, AS Monaco confirms its desire to help advance the young talents coming from La Diagonale.
