Jackpot!
Thanks to Manchester United’s £37 million deal for 19 year old former Monaco striker Anthony Martial, the lower league French team who developed him as a youth will be financially stable for years to come.
CO Les Ulis, a team that plays in a suburb of Paris in the sixth division, will receive about .75% or £275k of that money according to Pro Soccer Talk. This is due to FIFA’s rules encouraging youth development. Teams who develop talent receive a percentage of transfer money based on how long the player was in the system as well as other factors. If Monaco receive all the add ons and Manchester United pay the full reported £59 million, Les Ulis will receive around £443k. Martial was on Les Ulis from when he was 6 to 14 years old.
According to Les Ulis manager Mamadou Niakate, this is going to be huge for the team. Niakate said, “It will cover up to four or five years of our budget. We are always struggling to make ends meet. This money will help us secure existing jobs and renew our equipment. At the football school, we’ve been using the same footballs and training shirts over the past four years.”
Les Ulis has historically had an eye on discovering and developing talent at such a young age. A couple notable youth players who have been successful in their adult professional soccer careers include Patrice Evra and Thierry Henry, the player who many people have been comparing Martial to. What Martial has going for him is that his transfer is bringing in more money for Les Ulis than anyone before him. To put it in perspective, Les Ulis only received about £28k for Evra’s transfer. Moves like this will help encourage lower division teams to develop talent and invest in youth development for hopes of finding that diamond in the rough and help shape the future of world soccer.
