"Sergio Agüero?"
Ethan looked surprised.
Villas-Boas was slightly puzzled by his reaction, but assumed Ethan must have watched footage of Agüero or read reports on him through the scouting system.
"Yes. Our scouts in Argentina rate him very highly."
Ethan immediately turned to the computer on his desk, opened the club's scouting database, and entered Agüero's name.
Within seconds, the player's profile appeared.
The database contained several clips from Agüero's matches.
They were not conventional highlight reels filled with goals.
Instead, the scouting department collected footage that demonstrated specific qualities.
A clever first touch.
An intelligent run.
A well-executed dribble.
A good decision under pressure.
The club's player evaluations were generally divided into two major areas.
On-ball performance.
Off-ball performance.
On-ball performance was then broken down into numerous technical categories, with particular emphasis on technical consistency, quality of touch, decision-making, and mentality in possession.
Off-ball performance focused on positioning, support movement, recognition of space, movement between defensive lines, and the ability to create passing options for teammates.
Those areas were just as important to the scouts as what a player could do with the ball at his feet.
The scouting department also attempted to estimate long-term potential.
They considered which weaknesses could realistically be improved through coaching and match experience, which qualities depended more heavily on natural talent, and from there produced an approximate range for the player's future level.
New Manchester United's scouts in Argentina had given Agüero a 9.5 for his ability on the ball.
That demonstrated just how highly they rated his technique.
His control was already very good, although the scouts believed his first touch could still become cleaner.
That small weakness was the main reason he had not received a perfect score.
Within New Manchester United's academy, only one player had ever been given a 10 for on-ball ability.
Messi.
Ishmael had received a 9.5.
His first touch was excellent, but for a forward, finishing remained his biggest technical weakness, although that area had improved considerably.
Agüero's score was affected slightly by his first touch, but he had other strengths.
He timed late runs into the penalty area extremely well.
He knew how to protect himself physically during matches.
And most importantly, he was only fifteen.
There was still plenty of time for his technique to improve.
His off-ball evaluation was even more impressive.
Agüero received full marks for positioning and support movement.
Physically, he was already developing well.
He was quick.
He played intelligently.
He read matches well.
And he constantly scanned the space around him, which allowed him to arrive in dangerous positions at the right moment.
Agüero was currently being used as an attacking midfielder by Independiente.
Although he had broken Diego Maradona's record as the youngest player ever to appear for the club, he had received relatively few first-team opportunities so far and had yet to score.
"What do you think of him?" Ethan asked.
Villas-Boas nodded.
"He'll arrive in Manchester in two days for a one-month trial."
"My initial rating is nine out of ten. There's still plenty of room for development, and his style fits the way we attack in the final third."
"José wants to see how he handles the attacking midfield role."
Ethan understood immediately.
Mourinho was looking for another option behind Kaká.
With Beckham now offering greater range from midfield and Essien providing defensive protection, Kaká had been given more freedom to attack.
Officially, he played as the attacking midfielder.
In practice, he often operated almost like a second striker behind Drogba.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Robben, and Palacio were also encouraged to move inside whenever the situation allowed, opening space for the full-backs on the outside.
Drogba acted as the focal point up front.
The wide players could either cut inside or attack the byline.
Kaká could arrive late from midfield.
Those movements gave the Magic Four enormous variety in the final third and made them difficult to defend.
Ribéry was currently Kaká's main alternative.
The Frenchman had improved significantly, but he still preferred receiving the ball in wide areas.
Whenever he played centrally, he had a tendency to drift towards the flank almost instinctively.
His attacking ability from wide positions was excellent, but that was precisely why Mourinho was considering whether another player might be better suited as Kaká's direct backup.
Ethan knew exactly how talented Agüero could become.
In his previous life, after joining Atlético Madrid, the Argentine quickly became one of the club's biggest stars.
After Torres left, Agüero became Atlético's new golden boy.
His performances continued improving over the following years, even if he did not immediately move to one of Europe's traditional giants.
"Independiente's asking price isn't particularly high," Villas-Boas continued.
"They want around £1 million."
"We've invited him for the trial first. If José and the academy staff are satisfied, we'll sign him and place him in the youth setup."
Ethan nodded.
"You can handle decisions like that."
Then his expression became more serious.
"But I want the youth-development report accelerated. I intend to raise it at the next Premier League chairmen's meeting."
The Premier League's club owners and chairmen met every three months.
The next meeting had been scheduled during the international break.
Ethan intended to circulate the report among the other clubs first.
If there was enough support, they could refine the proposal together before submitting it formally to the FA.
Premier League clubs controlled a huge share of English football's commercial power.
In Ethan's view, that meant they also had a responsibility to contribute to the development of English players.
Over the following days, Villas-Boas and the scouting department immediately began gathering material and preparing a more complete youth-development proposal.
Ethan also contributed several ideas based on what he remembered from his previous life.
Germany's reforms were particularly valuable as a reference point.
Within less than a decade, the country's youth-development overhaul would produce an exceptional generation of players.
Mesut Özil.
Thomas Müller.
Toni Kroos.
And many others.
Once the first full draft was completed, Ethan immediately sent it to the chairmen of the other nineteen Premier League clubs.
At the same time, he shared some of New Manchester United's own experience in developing young players.
By now, Newton Heath's academy had already developed a strong reputation throughout England and was beginning to attract attention elsewhere in Europe.
Naturally, Ethan had no intention of revealing every detail of the club's internal methods.
The most valuable parts of the system would remain private.
Even so, this was the first time outsiders had been given a relatively clear picture of New Manchester United's academy philosophy.
"Technique first."
That was how Ethan summarised it.
"We do very little specialised physical or positional training with very young players."
He looked around the room at the representatives of the other nineteen Premier League clubs.
"Why?"
"Because they don't need it yet."
"If you want children to love football, you have to make them enjoy playing it."
"You don't achieve that by forcing them through repetitive drills until training feels like work."
"We use small-sided games."
"For example, put four players against four in an area twenty metres by fifteen."
"No fixed strikers."
"No fixed defenders."
"Everyone gets the ball."
"Everyone attacks."
"Everyone defends."
"And most importantly, everyone plays."
He continued.
"We also use a series of football-based games designed around movement, coordination, control, and decision-making."
"The purpose is to make young players want to come back and play again."
"As they get older, we gradually increase the size of the pitch."
"Thirty-five by twenty-five metres works well for five-a-side or six-a-side."
"Forty by thirty-five can be used for seven-a-side competition."
"At those ages, the score is not the priority."
"Winning is not the priority."
"Whether a child has one excellent match or one poor match is not the priority."
"The priority is developing interest, confidence, creativity, and comfort with the ball."
Several respected European youth-development specialists had contributed to the report.
The first two stages focused primarily on children aged ten and under, whether they were in primary schools, introductory football programmes, or the youngest academy age groups.
Between eleven and fourteen, the emphasis would begin shifting.
Players would still take part in small-sided games and free-play exercises, but more structured technical coaching would be introduced.
First touch.
Passing.
Receiving.
Dribbling.
Turning.
Striking the ball properly.
The purpose was not to eliminate creativity, but to give players a stronger technical base from which to express it.
Small pitches would still be used most of the time, although players would gradually be introduced to larger-sided matches.
From fifteen to eighteen, the programme would become far more demanding.
By that age, most players would already have established their basic technical habits.
Training could therefore become more position-specific.
Players would work on executing technique under pressure, at higher speed, and with less time.
Small-group tactical work would become more important.
Team tactics would also be introduced in a much more systematic way.
By the end of those four stages, a talented player should at least possess the technical and tactical foundation required to attempt professional football.
...
Ethan presented the draft proposal at the Premier League chairmen's meeting.
It was still incomplete.
But he believed the issue was too important to delay.
Youth development represented the future not only of individual clubs, but of the entire league.
If England wanted the Premier League to remain competitive over the long term, it needed a stronger domestic player-development system.
Ethan's initial estimate called for more than two hundred regional training centres across England.
The annual operating cost would be approximately £5 million.
Premier League clubs would also be encouraged to invest around £1 million per year into their own academy structures.
The regional centres would primarily support clubs and communities outside the Premier League, spreading access to higher-quality coaching throughout the country.
Premier League clubs could continue developing their own elite training facilities independently.
For a club generating tens of millions of pounds each year, an additional £1 million investment into youth development was relatively modest.
The potential return was far greater.
A stronger national development system would eventually benefit the entire league.
Ethan's proposal received support from most of the representatives present.
In recent years, several clubs in the north, including Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, and New Manchester United, had already begun building stronger cooperative links around youth development.
Their academies were increasingly well organised.
That made them particularly receptive to a broader national programme.
The proposal still required substantial work.
One major issue was coaching.
England would need more highly qualified youth coaches.
Some could be recruited from abroad.
Others would have to be trained domestically.
Either way, the FA would need to be involved.
After speaking with several of the Premier League chairmen, Ethan sent the draft plan to the Football Association together with a document confirming the support of the participating clubs.
The FA had long encouraged professional clubs to invest more seriously in youth development.
The difficulty had always been funding and coordination.
Under Ethan's proposal, the FA would take responsibility for establishing the two hundred regional training centres.
The estimated £5 million annual cost immediately became a major concern.
Then the Premier League clubs offered to contribute £3 million per year.
That changed the discussion completely.
The FA agreed to move forward.
Over the following days, Ethan remained in London with several other Premier League representatives.
Together with officials from the FA and the Premier League, they began working through the details of the programme.
Publicly, the initiative was presented as an FA-led youth-development project.
Ethan had no objection.
If giving the governing body public ownership of the programme made implementation easier, then it was worth it.
What mattered was whether the system actually improved.
For the first time, Ethan could realistically imagine English youth development beginning to move in a better direction.
But while he was in London discussing the future of young English players, New Manchester United were suddenly confronted with a much more immediate problem.
John Terry could be facing a worldwide suspension of up to two years.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)