FEATURE | PSG youth team in great shape as they meet Real Madrid in tonight’s Youth League semi-final

Coach Jean-François Vulliez, who previously worked in the youth set-up at Olympique Lyonnais, where he helped develop the likes of Bradley Barcola, has such a wealth of talent to choose from that it is likely that midfielder Mathis Jangeal – who has appeared for the PSG first team this season – will start on the bench.

Many of the Youth League squad are also eligible to play in PSG’s U18 Coupe Gambardella team, which has also reached the semi-final stage, and with the club’s U17 and U19 teams in the top two in their respective leagues, it is evidence that the club’s Campus de Poissy training complex, inaugurated in 2024, is helping to develop a large number of promising footballers – 28 of whom have featured in the Youth League this season.

PSG has a strong recent history of helping to nurture generational talents, the club ranking in the CIES Football Observatory’s top 5 for clubs who have developed the most players to feature in the five big European leagues over the past decade.

The recurring issue is how many of those players have been able to break permanently into the PSG first team. The 2016 Youth League finalists featured the likes of Christopher Nkunku, Jean-Kevin Augustin, Jonathan Ikone and Fodé Ballo-Touré, all of whom moved elsewhere in order to guarantee more playing time.

Although Luis Enrique has shown himself more open than some of his predecessors to giving youth a chance, many of the current team are likely to move away this summer according to L’Équipe, including Ayari (linked with Ajax Amsterdam), Cordier and Jangeal.

GFFN | Jeremy Smith