Vincenzo Vergine, the new Milan academy director, discussed his plans for the new project in the Rossoneri youth system, his arrival at the club and the development path for youngsters.
Vergine previously spent 13 years in charge of the Viola youth system from 2006 to 2019 before spending two years with Roma from July 2021 to September of this year, when he switched the Italian capital for Milan.
Whilst Milan have started to develop a reputation for developing talents under Stefano Pioli in recent years, the players have mostly come from elsewhere and not been developed by their own youth system. Recent academy graduates include Lorenzo Colombia and Daniel Maldini.
Speaking to Milan’s media department, Vergine first discussed his new project with the club’s youth system.
“It’s a great honour for me to have received the call from Milan, who are one of the greatest clubs in the world and for one of the most ambitious projects in the world. The first great objective of a great academy is to train the resources in-house for the first team.
“Training them at a big club means putting together men and women who work on this project who have a shared vision to help the players perform at their best.
“Everyone from me to the last collaborator must be clear that the final process is extracting the maximum from the potential. Saying it is simple, doing it is ambitious.”
He spoke about his decision to switch Roma for Milan.
“The process at Roma was interrupted at the moment because Milan forcefully came to snatch me from them and bring me to Milan.
“Now we have to recreate the right conditions here so that my experience and my skills are made available to this club.”
The 55-year-old spoke about his objectives in his new role.
“The objective is to return to being protagonists in Italy. Because Milan cannot fail to be leaders in this country. And in… I don’t want to say it, but in my head, there’s a clear objective, very little time to become an international leader.”
Vergine was asked if results or growth were more important.
“The real results of the academy are the players who go to the first team and generate economic and technical value. Obviously, what is achieved on the pitch is an important tool for developing a winning attitude.
“The result as an end in itself does not serve to nothing, but in the broader context it is decisive, Milan can only play to win, the mentality is dominating the game and the desire to grow to overcome any opponent.”
He spoke about the idea of adding more fans to the youth system.
“If we recruit players who are already Milan fans we have an advantage, but it doesn’t always happen.
“The task there is to quickly introduce them into that context, so that the player breathes Rossoneri and understands the values of Milan.”
Finally, Vergine discussed the facilities at Milanello and Vismara.
“Milanello is already at the forefront for the Primavera. The other teams train at Vismara, which instead needs some restyling to be renovated and adapt to the Milan coat of arms.”