Arsène Wenger reveals secret behind AS Monaco academy’s success

AS Monaco’s academy is renowned. Integrating players from their prestigious La Diagonale is part of the DNA of the Principality club and former manager Arsène Wenger has revealed a reason for the academy’s success.

There are many fabled graduates from Monaco’s academy, with most recent examples being France captain Kylian Mbappé, Eliesse Ben Seghir and Maghnes Akliouche. The latter two remain key players for Les Monégasques. A large part of the success of AS Monaco’s academy is their ability to recruit players. 

In an exclusive interview with L’Équipe, Wenger, who spent seven years at Monaco, during which time he won the league title, has lifted the lid on a facet of the academy’s success. At least in part, the former Arsenal manager attributes it to the local geography. 

“There is no local pool of young players. The Niçois go to OGC Nice and to the east is Italy,” began Wenger. Nice is just 20km down the coast, making it geographically the closest derby in Ligue 1. “As there aren’t local players, the club is obliged to recruit from the whole of France for their academy, and they manage to attract the best thanks to its notoriety and its environment.”

Wenger continued, “The parents are trusting: it is a small city in which you can easily control the players’ environment and then the history of training is top. By putting your kid at Monaco, you can say that he’ll have it calm, with a chance of succeeding. So ASM attract all the best players.” 

GFFN | Luke Entwistle