Executive details Corinthians academy rebuild after return | OneFootball

Corinthians’ youth academy is going through a rebuilding phase after a long period away from the country’s main national competitions. The club recently managed to return to the Training Clubs Movement (MCF), after resolving the deadlock involving Palmeiras behind the scenes, and began receiving invitations again to major Brazilian football tournaments.

The comeback, however, does not erase the effects left by around 18 months of isolation. Some generations of young athletes spent an important part of their development process without playing relevant competitions, and the impact of that period is still expected to be felt by Corinthians in the coming years.

Photo: Carlos Freitas/Corinthians

Executive Erasmo Damiani, who has been in charge of the club’s youth academy since the end of last year, compared the department’s current situation to a new pandemic, given the number of tournaments the youngsters were unable to play during the suspension.

“Corinthians’ youth academy went through a second pandemic. We spent almost two years out of national competitions. From 2025 until now, Corinthians was out of 38 important competitions. The boy who is now in Corinthians’ U-15 missed several important competitions at U-14 and U-13,” the official said in an interview with ge.globo.

Damiani detailed the work being done to reorganize the youth structure, spoke about the process of returning to the Training Clubs Movement, and commented on Corinthians’ plans to expand the recruitment of young talent in different regions of the country.

The executive also addressed the relationship with the players’ families, one of the challenges faced by the department, and argued that the current youth setup is now run by respected professionals in the market, without political interference from Parque São Jorge.

“Today, you don’t see complaints in Corinthians’ youth academy. We try to do everything very transparently for the staff and the board. The beginning here was turbulent, we came in with Corinthians out of the Movement, then the Flora case happened. Everything was discussed with the president, nothing was done by surprise. Everything was approved by him,” he commented.

Corinthians’ suspension from the Training Clubs Movement happened after a complaint filed by Palmeiras. The rival accused the black-and-white club of allegedly poaching forward Pedro Morelli, who was part of Palmeiras’ youth academy. The case was forwarded to the MCF with documents and evidence presented by the rival club. After analysis by the clubs that are part of the Movement, Corinthians ended up being excluded from the group.

The situation was resolved in August, when the club decided to terminate Pedro Morelli’s contract. With the player released, Corinthians was able to return to the Movement and, consequently, regained access to competitions organized among the participating clubs.

Now back in the competition circuit, Corinthians intends to accept the invitations it considers important in order to once again put its players up against different development schools. For Damiani, contact with a variety of opponents and increased competitiveness are key factors in the youngsters’ development.

“We are accepting the invitations we receive because they are important competitions and we need to live with the differences between other schools. The more competitiveness, the more important it is for development,” he pointed out.

As an example of the damage accumulated during the suspension, the executive cited the generation that will be in the U-15 category in 2027. In his view, those players missed out on several relevant tournaments at both U-13 and U-14 level.

“Let’s use as an example the boys who will be in U-15 in 2027. At U-13, they missed at least four important competitions, and at U-14 another six competitions. Altogether, they failed to play in ten tournaments that are extremely important for their learning,” Erasmo Damiani emphasized.

In addition to the absence from championships, the period outside the Movement also brought consequences for Corinthians’ squad. Damiani said the lack of games hurt the players’ competitiveness and minutes on the pitch, while some players ended up leaving the club during the process.

“The boys lose in terms of competitiveness and game minutes. Corinthians suffered losses with players coming and going. Because we were out of the Movement, some parents took players out of the club. We lost fewer than we could have, but we lost important pieces,” he commented.

With the return to competitions, however, the executive believes the scenario is now different. In addition to recovering the space lost in the calendar, Corinthians will be able to assess more precisely the performance of its players against opponents from other development centers.

“Now, not anymore. There’s no longer that excuse, Corinthians is back in competitions. The damage is immeasurable, the athletes suffered, they were harmed in their development process by not having games against other schools. Corinthians will start to understand which players have a higher level from now on,” the executive analyzed.

Before opting to terminate Pedro Morelli’s contract, Corinthians worked with other alternatives to recover its place in the Training Clubs Movement. One of the possibilities discussed involved a direct agreement with Palmeiras, but the talks did not have a positive outcome.

“There was the possibility of an agreement between Corinthians and Palmeiras, which did not happen. It came very close, but there was no positive outcome for some reasons. Corinthians was always willing to make the agreement. I want to remind people that it was not us (the Osmar Stabile administration) who created this situation; it could have been resolved last year with more transparency at the beginning of the year,” he said.

Without an understanding between the clubs, the player’s release came to be presented as a condition for Corinthians to return to the Movement. According to Damiani, the board had to analyze the impact of the decision taking into account the entire group of athletes who would benefit from the reinstatement.

“The second point presented was that, for the return to the Movement, the player’s release was necessary. For us, this weighed heavily: ‘Am I going to harm 430 athletes or give up one and benefit 429?’ It was in that situation; we reached an agreement with the family and the representatives that, the way things were, it would also be harmful to the athlete and to his development,” the official explained.

In the executive’s view, the solution sought to serve both the interests of Corinthians’ development structure and the player’s own professional future, as he will be able to continue his career at another club.

“The decision takes into account the athlete’s development, as he will be able to continue his career at another club, and it also serves Corinthians’ youth academy, which is benefiting the other 429 athletes,” he added.

Damiani was also asked about possible political motivation from Palmeiras throughout the process. The executive said he does not see the case that way and acknowledged that the rival felt wronged by the handling of the situation involving the player.

For the executive, however, responsibility for the prolonging of the problem cannot be attributed to only one side. Damiani believes Corinthians could also have sought a solution earlier, especially in the period before his arrival at the club.

“I don’t see it that way. Palmeiras felt wronged by the way what happened at the beginning of last year was handled and sought its rights. Corinthians, at that first moment, before my arrival at the club, did not try to resolve it. Today, I say that everyone had a little bit of fault in this,” the professional assessed.

Although he rules out a directly political motivation, Damiani acknowledged that the period of fragility experienced by Corinthians ended up creating a favorable situation for Palmeiras in the battle for youth players. According to him, the rival signed two players linked to Corinthians and tried to make moves for other names, taking advantage of the scenario created by Corinthians’ suspension from the Training Clubs Movement.

“Of course, for Palmeiras, it became interesting for Corinthians to remain weakened because they took two of our players and tried for others. I wouldn’t say Palmeiras acted with political motivation, but they had a weapon in their favor and used it because they had decision-making power,” he said.

Although Corinthians and Palmeiras came close to an agreement, the deal was not concluded. Pedro Morelli’s departure ended up being the path adopted to end the deadlock and allow the black-and-white club to return to the Movement. With the situation resolved, Damiani believes Timão once again has greater protection in the battle for young athletes, especially in the younger categories, which, according to him, were more exposed during the period away from the Training Clubs Movement.

“Corinthians came very close to reaching an agreement with them, but it didn’t happen. The athlete is now a free agent and Corinthians is back in the Movement, which protects us from losing new athletes; we were concerned about that. In the younger categories, we were very fragile, now we have a safety cushion in the early development of players,” the executive concluded.

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