"It's not too dissimilar to what I experienced in baseball where a disproportionately large portion of talent comes from places like the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. Africa has 54 countries and a wide diversity of opportunities. There's a lot of infrastructure challenges because, generally speaking, young athletes in Africa don't have the benefits that the young athletes in Europe or North America have, Luhnow adds."
"It is hoped that the sale of Yan Diomande an 18-year-old from Ivory Coast who joined Leganes last year and made only 10 appearances for their first team before being sold to RB Leipzig for 20m (17.4m) in the summer could prove to be the first of many after the launching of recruitment and development programmes in several African countries, including Ghana and Zambia, during the past five years."
Jeff Luhnow transitioned from baseball to football management and now oversees a network of clubs including Leganes and Le Havre. He plans to revolutionise player development in Africa by applying a data-driven approach aimed at integrating discovered talent into European teams. Luhnow compares Africa's potential to baseball talent pools in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela, while noting significant infrastructure and support gaps for young athletes across African countries. Recruitment and development programmes have been launched in nations such as Ghana and Zambia over the past five years. The €20m sale of 18-year-old Yan Diomande to RB Leipzig is cited as an early validation of the approach.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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