Talent Academy is a football improvement school that was born in the summer of 2018. Since its first sporting season, Talent Academy has boasted a staff of the highest level, training around thirty players from all over Italy. In the operational structure built by general manager Gianfranco Perla, instructors such as Nello Santin (Italian champion with Torino and technical director in the first season), Salvatore Praino, Massimo Gardano, Massimo Frattolillo, Vincenzo Manzo, Elia Fanelli, Gianluca Petruzzelli and many others have worked and are still working.
If on the pitch the boys are prepared for professional football from all points of view (physical, technical, tactical and also mental), just as much attention is paid to their extra-football growth. The boys are housed and have their meals at the International Training Centre of the ILO (International Labour Organisation, a specialised UN agency), in via Maestri del Lavoro 10 in Turin. All are required to attend school and there is always a tutor at their disposal.
In the summer of 2021, Talent Academy made a further leap in quality, with the addition to the staff of Christian Manfredini as technical coordinator for movement players and Fabrizio Capodici as goalkeeper area coordinator. Collaboration has been ratified with Vincenzo Catera, market consultant for professional clubs. He will propose the players of Talent Academy to professional football and take care of all operations related to the management of contractual relations.
The idea behind Talent Academy is simple: to find talent throughout Italy and prepare them for professional football. The organisational machine is much more complex, starting with a dense network of scouts distributed throughout the country, particularly in the southern regions of Italy, and developing in Turin, where Talent Academy has its sports facility and accommodation (hotel and restaurant).
This is where the young talents live, supervised by managers and school tutors, and train, with a staff of top professionals who look after their all-round football development (athletic preparation, individual technique, team tactics) and their character and personal growth, because to become a professional footballer it is essential to be well-behaved youngsters with healthy values, but also determined and gritty.
Daily training, alternating with club training, friendly matches and auditions train the talents for professional football. The Talent Academy cooperates with market consultants and sports agent companies to offer its players the chance to be offered and managed in professional football.
