The elite player program combining the Spanish model with a ‘Saudi heart'

“There’s no youth development program anywhere in the world that compares,” says Míchel Salgado, the Real Madrid legend and now head coach of Future Falcons. “It's providing players with an experience they will never forget.”

Salgado is speaking to OneFootball inside the King Abdullah Sports City stadium in Jeddah, a fitting location to discuss his role shaping the future stars of Saudi Arabian football. It’s the day after Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao and hours before Real Madrid eased past Mallorca to set up Spanish Super Cup El Clásico final.

The Spanish approach to youth development has been the envy of the football world this century and the academies of the country’s two biggest clubs contribute more players to Europe’s top five leagues than any other: Real Madrid’s La Fabrica and Barcelona’s La Masia.

The constant production line of elite talent has directly translated into sustained success, both at club and international level, so it was inevitable other nations would attempt to emulate the Spanish model.

It is an approach adopted by Saudi Arabia in the form of the Future Falcons, a program specially designed to maximise the potential of the Kingdom’s most talented youth players.

Launched in 2019 by the Saudi Ministry of Sport (MOS) initially for players in their late teens, Future Falcons expanded under the watch of the Saudi Arabia Football Federation (SAFF) and in the last two years, pivoted exclusively to Under-16s. The involvement of SAFF means the Future Falcons doubles up as the U16 Saudi national team, with Salgado the head coach of both.

“The roles are related and complement each other,” explains Salgado, who was appointed in June 2024. “Our objective is to get the best players and the whole [U16] national team into the Future Falcons so I can work together with all the players on a daily basis.”

That daily work takes place at a state-of-the-art facility in Salou, Spain, led by Salgado and supported by a team of coaches, analysts, and support staff primarily from Spain but also with expertise from Italy, Croatia, Saudi Arabia and across the global game. Each Future Falcons term lasts for two seasons, so the players are aged between 14 and 16 at any given time during the program. Top-class academic education is also provided and is a key part of the project.

Considering the location and the staff involved, it should come as no surprise that many elements of the Spanish model are being implemented at Future Falcons. It also helps that there are parallels between the Saudi and Spanish game, with both placing significant importance on technique and possession.

“Spanish football is special for so many reasons, but the main reason is the grassroots,” Salgado says. “I made my debut with the national team in the late 1990s and from that moment I saw the change in Spain. All the teams in Spain started to take care of the academies and they understood that was the way forward, not only for the clubs, but for the national team as well.

📸 Denis Doyle - 2007 Getty Images

“After that, you know the history; Spain won two Euros and one World Cup back-to-back. That was a turning point for everybody. Spanish football is now one of the most followed in terms of methodology and grassroots.

“It's something that I'm trying to bring to Future Falcons and the national team of Saudi; to bring the way we see football in Spain but not lose the sense of Saudi football and Saudi culture. It's not about changing everything but teaching them the way to be competitive and to play football in a Spanish sense without losing the Saudi heart.”

While the Future Falcons players have the guidance and infrastructure to make even the world’s best academies envious, there is no substitute for competition. To ensure the squad receives the necessary experience against European opposition, SAFF and the MOS created the Al Abtal International Cup, an annual U16 tournament involving the best clubs in Europe.

“It's essentially a Champions League for Under 16s,” Salgado says, and he’s not wrong. There are 21 clubs in the tournament, comprising many of Europe’s strongest sides, from Real Madrid and Barcelona to Juventus and Inter Milan, Sporting Lisbon, and Porto.

The Abtal Cup is played throughout the season, with teams divided into four groups of six followed by knockout stages. Future Falcons compete in every group, maximising their opportunities to play against sides from across Europe both home and away. At the last edition, Future Falcons reached the semi-finals, beating Roma in the last eight.

It's a tournament that is therefore providing valuable exposure to these Saudi players, not only in terms of quality opposition but also the conditions and challenges that come at the highest level of the European game.

“There are five factors that need to be met to create a positive environment,” says Romeo Jozak, the Future Falcons technical director. “The talent of the player, the coach, the strength of the program, the internal competition, and finally the external competition.

“We couldn't play in sanctioned European tournaments because of FIFA legal procedures, so we created the Abtal Cup. It's now the strongest U16s tournament on the planet. When the players are playing in Germany on freezing cold fields and they're battling in a 0-0 match, it’s all about survival, the result is not too important. However, the psychology of the experience stays with them and they're growing in confidence.

“We have these games every week. Next week we have Austria Vienna, then we have Sporting Lisbon and then we go to Saudi Arabia. It's a year-round competition, which is of enormous importance for the development of the players.”

Jozak brings to his role a wealth of experience, accumulated from coaching and executive positions in his native Croatia with Dinamo Zagreb and in Poland, Africa, and now Saudi Arabia during a career spanning almost three decades.

Among his many roles “conducting” the Future Falcons program is creating a “positive development environment”. Vital to that is player welfare, a particularly important responsibility when dealing with teenagers many miles from home, in a new country, and away from family for the first time.

“We're not just a football camp that goes on for two weeks,” Jozak says. “It's a life these kids live, and because they're U16, we need to make sure they have everything they need to live in this environment.

“But also to have fun, to have social activities, to have a life rather than only training sessions. We are trying to perform strictly on the pitch and take control of their lives, but obviously this is not a prison, they must have freedom to live their childhoods. At the same time, they have a responsibility to represent their country and their families, while also doing something successful and meaningful in their lives as young soccer players.”

Like any elite football academy, the ultimate aim for Future Falcons is to produce as many players as possible capable of thriving in the “cruel world of professional football” as Jozak describes it. Ideally, that means preparing players for life in Europe, but also to provide a regular supply line to the Roshn Saudi League, which has undergone unprecedented transformation in recent years with the arrival of some of the biggest stars in world football.

“We are providing a chance for more players from Saudi to move to Europe, the most important continent in football,” Salgado says. “This is something that no other program is doing. We are competing with the best teams in Europe, we have everything to facilitate the players, all the things they need to develop as human beings and as football players.

“And every year it's improving, we’ve got the results” Salgado adds. “In the long term we'll get bigger and better results, but in the short term, I can see the improvement because I'm there, I can see how the kids are improving, how the kids are getting into the real competition. And if you want to be at the highest level, you need to compete at the highest level. Future Falcons is providing this opportunity.”

📸 Saudi Arabia Sports Ministry

Whichever route a Future Falcons player might take to the professional game, it will all serve to benefit the future of Saudi football and the national team. There is a sizeable target in just under a decade’s time when Salgado hopes the program’s success will be on full display at the 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia. The players he currently coaches will be in their mid-20s and those who turn professional will be in their primes.

“It's a big responsibility. We’re talking about the World Cup 2034 which is around 10 years to work with this group of players. There is a responsibility to select the right players for the Future Falcons over the next two years and we have to get it right,” Salgado says.

“This year we have the U17 Asian Cup (in April) and the U17 World Cup (in November). These are big tests for us. I'm looking forward to seeing this group in the next few years, because they will be around 26 years old in 2034. I hope that they can be the base of the national team in the World Cup in Saudi.

“It's a challenge, but we are on the right path. We are telling the players that they have to be proud. They have to take this pride in their heart because they're representing Saudi Arabia, and that 10 years from now, they have a big chance to show the world what we've been doing.”

📸 FADEL SENNA - AFP or licensors