MILAN – In a recent interview to Radio Cina Internazionale, Marco Monti spoke about Inter Academy's projects in Shanghai, Beijing and Nanjing.
"Our six coaches are constantly involved in the three Academies in China," the technical director began. "They collaborate with local coaches, who were largely trained in Italy through specialisation courses at the Centro Sportivo Giacinto Facchetti. This is an important step from our part and fundamental in ensuring a high level of technical training, which sets our project apart.
"We have a clear and structured methodology," Monti continued. "Starting from our approach to youth football and taking advantage of the shared duties in coaching, our aim is that one day our local guys can work independently. There are currently around 50 coaches working at the three sites, but considering that a large chunk of the work is carried out in schools in each city – with training programmes for potential coaches and P.E. teachers interested in developing school football like us) – there is probably around 100 trainers involved.
"Inter Academy intends on developing the footballing movement in China," he added about the project's over-arching aim, "on the back of the enormous potential that we've seen and the desire of the Chinese government to have a competitive national team within a few years. We have our own way of understanding youth football, so we hope we can help out in this sense.
"China has always been a strategic country and we began dealing with our current partners even before the government adopted this position. Now we feel more involved, with a big company like Suning that has invested in Inter partly in the hope of growing Chinese football, through our help. I think the two necessities come together perfectly and we have thrown ourselves into this adventure with enthusiasm and passion."
Finally, Monti offered his opinion on what sets Inter Academy apart from similar enterprises.
"The thing that distinguishes us from our competitors is that we plumb our own depths to find resources," he said. "All our coaches come from our youth set-up; they are not external appointments. I think this puts us ahead of other clubs, who might use human or technical resources that don't come from their internal structure."
