Mastermind

Luca Reggiani, Filippo Mane and Samuele Inacio have been nominated for the Italian national team. #BVB

Youth department director Thomas Broich: "Two years ago, we took a different approach, wanting to move away from titles to some extent and focus entirely on individual development. We adopted a very complex style of play and significantly rejuvenated our squads. That’s why, at first, we didn’t think it was even possible for us to compete for a title of this calibre. It was the most challenging competition we’ve ever taken part in. [...] We had to fly to England constantly and, with a much younger squad, sometimes face second teams with English toughness and even some Premier League experience. At times, the opposition had a market value of 30, 40 or 50 million euros. In the final, we were two years younger than Real. The fact that it’s worked out so quickly and that we’ve been able to win a title with our approach fills us with great pride and makes us very optimistic about the future. But I’d like to emphasise that something even more amazing has actually happened. The fact that Luca Reggiani and Samuele Inácio were in the first-team starting line-up right from the start and were able to celebrate goals in front of the Yellow Wall. They weren’t even in the final. Mathis Albert, aged just 16, made his professional debut in the Bundesliga a few weeks ago. Mussa Kaba was also already in the squad before an injury slowed him down a bit. That’s why: we’re not doing all this primarily for the trophies, even though we want to go as far as possible in every competition. Some fantastic moments have been captured, and we’re as proud as punch of them. But if we didn’t get any lads into Signal Iduna Park, that wouldn’t be a success for us. We have to be that clear about it. The development of the individual players is our top priority." 🗞 @Transfermarkt #BVB