Corinthians youth market co-ordinator details scouting work | OneFootball

Corinthians’ youth academy market coordinator, Crisleison Santos, who was hired by the club at the beginning of this year after an extensive spell at Manchester United in England, gave an interview to the club’s official YouTube channel and revealed an ambitious project for Timão’s youth development department for the coming seasons.

Throughout the interview, the market professional said that, by 2030, Corinthians’ plan is to have 20 academy-developed players integrated into the first-team squad, in a project titled “Corinthians 20-30.” Cris stressed that the intention is not only for these youngsters to be part of the squad, but to play a meaningful role in the professional team, which would considerably increase the minutes played by players coming through Alvinegro’s youth ranks.

Photo: Rafael Bryan/Agência Corinthians

“It’s also no use just having the player up there if he isn’t playing. We believe that, by 2030, they can be the biggest representatives wearing the Corinthians shirt. That is a goal we believe can be implemented,” he said.

With that goal in mind, one of Corinthians’ main strengths is also its meticulous player monitoring work. Cris said the youth department plans to track around 2,800 players who meet the needs of the club from Parque São Jorge and, consequently, the profile considered ideal by the institution, from a list that reaches 50,000 names.

Given the vast amount of information available, Corinthians uses artificial intelligence through its scouting department as a tool to filter data. This technology is even fed with images and detailed information from Timão’s youth matches in order to help professionals map out athletes who fit the standards and guidelines the club considers ideal.

Despite that, scouting is not carried out solely through data filtering and usage. According to Crisleison, Corinthians has a series of technical scouts who follow players in person in places such as Ecuador, Nigeria, the outskirts of São Paulo, the interior of São Paulo state, Rio de Janeiro, and Belo Horizonte.

“What matters, beyond each player’s behavior, is their interrelationship within each sector and with the other sector. The human eye sums that up through on-site observation,” he added.

The coordinator also highlights that another Corinthians priority is to recruit players at a young age, which ends up reducing costs for the club and increasing their development period within Parque São Jorge. Living through a serious financial crisis, with accumulated debt of nearly R$ 3 billion, Alvinegro sees its youth academy as one of its main sources of revenue for the coming years, along with the possibility of reducing liabilities through the transfer of these players.

At the moment, the club from Parque São Jorge is barred from registering any potential new signings due to three transfer bans — two from FIFA and one from the CNRD (National Chamber for Dispute Resolution, a CBF body) — totaling approximately R$ 22 million over pending payments related to the signings of defensive midfielders José Martínez and Charles, both in mid-2024, in addition to the non-payment of the fifth CNRD installment — worth R$ 8 million.

Currently, Corinthians has the following homegrown players as part of the professional team: Kauê Camargo, Felipe Longo, João Pedro Tchoca, Iago Machado, André Luiz, Luiz Gustavo Bahia, Matheus Pereira, Dieguinho, and Gui Negão. In 2026, the club from Parque São Jorge set a target of raising R$ 151 million from the sales of young players.

Check out the full video below on Corinthians TV:

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.