As a tech blogger with 30 years of being a football fan, though I chose a career in the tech industry, football has always flowed through my veins. You could say tech is my job, but football is my life.
Driven by my passionate love for the sport, I recently had the privilege of participating in a unique online exchange with the president, sporting director, and professional players of the renowned Spanish football club Sevilla FC. While I’ve visited iconic stadiums like the Bernabeu, Camp Nou, Calderon, and Allianz Arena in the past, this was my first face-to-face interaction with the leadership of a club. It gave me a deeper understanding of the development strategies, strategic direction, and distinctive growth system of this storied club with 120 years of history.
If you’re a football fan, you surely know that Sevilla doesn’t boast the massive fanbase of clubs like Real Madrid, Barcelona, or Atlético Madrid. However, that doesn’t diminish Sevilla’s indispensable status in La Liga and across Europe. Historically, Sevilla has won 1 La Liga title, 5 Copa del Rey titles, 1 Spanish Super Cup, 7 Europa League titles, and 1 UEFA Super Cup. Most notably, their 7 Europa League triumphs place them at the top of the competition’s all-time winners list, earning the UEFA Europa League the playful nickname among fans: the “Sevilla Cup.”
I first became familiar with Sevilla FC in 2012, when Malian striker Frédéric Kanouté joined my favorite team, Beijing Guoan. Before that, he had been playing for Sevilla. Standing at 192 cm with exceptional technical skills, Kanouté was a standout during his seven seasons with Sevilla, making 285 appearances, logging 20,153 minutes, scoring 132 goals, and providing 23 assists—an impeccable performance.
You might not realize it unless it’s pointed out, but football legend Diego Maradona also graced the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán Stadium in 1992 as a Sevilla player. Sevilla’s decision to sign Maradona was undoubtedly a bold challenge to the established order, a move worthy of respect.
Of course, whether it’s their success in European competitions or their track record in nurturing stars, Sevilla has proven itself a top-tier powerhouse not to be underestimated. Today, with the rapid development and integration of competitive sports and technology, Sevilla has established a comprehensive framework in areas like youth academies, technical innovation, and international expansion, paving the way for future success.
● Youth Academy: The Cradle of Great Stars
When it comes to Sevilla’s youth system, one statistic stands out. According to the latest data from the CIES Football Observatory, Sevilla has produced nearly 80 academy players over the past 20 years, ranking among the top clubs in Europe’s five major leagues. Among them are world-renowned stars like Jesús Navas, a key figure in Spain’s 2010 World Cup triumph; José Antonio Reyes, an Arsenal legend who later played for Xinjiang Tianshan Leopard; and even Sergio Ramos, the iconic Real Madrid captain—all products of Sevilla’s youth academy.
However, the greatness of Sevilla’s academy isn’t limited to these famous names. The club’s B team, Sevilla Atlético, has consistently been one of Spain’s top youth sides and achieved promotion to the Segunda División (Spanish second tier) in 2016, marking a moment of glory.
The success of the youth academy stems from a robust and constantly evolving system. Sevilla’s sporting director, Víctor Orta, emphasized that based on an ever-innovating youth development philosophy, the club introduced its unique “Sevilla D” plan. This initiative focuses on promoting the development of both the club and its players (Development) while embracing diversified training (Diversification). It prioritizes not only the growth of domestic talent but also global youth collaboration, aiming to unearth potential stars through localized partnerships.
Under the “Sevilla D” plan, the club has deployed 12 scouts worldwide, tracking approximately 500 young players and producing detailed scouting reports spanning 100–150 pages. These reports analyze everything from muscle fiber types to psychological resilience, potentially breaking down every cell of a young player into data to meet the strictest standards. Additionally, Sevilla has implemented the “18+6” youth policy—a rarity in modern football. This rule mandates that every squad must include six homegrown academy players, further streamlining the transition from youth to first team and accelerating the development of young talent.
● Technological Breakthrough: The First Sports Organization to Join the AI Alliance
For a forward-thinking football club like Sevilla, embracing technological progress has always been a priority, positioning it at the forefront of the tech arms race in sports.
As AI technology continues to evolve, Sevilla has kept pace with the trend, becoming the first sports organization in the world to join the AI Alliance. This alliance, co-founded by IBM and Meta, includes over 150 major tech companies, universities, and research institutions working together to establish global standards for AI innovation. By joining the AI Alliance, Sevilla FC has gained access to cutting-edge AI research and innovations, laying the groundwork for expanding the use of artificial intelligence in football performance, business strategy, and fan engagement.
Sevilla’s club president, José Castro Carmona, noted that since partnering with IBM in 2024 to launch the innovative generative AI tool Scout Advisor, the club has not only transformed its scouting methods but also unlocked greater potential in data analysis. This tool bridges the gap between traditional human-centric scouting and data-driven approaches, creating a new competitive edge.
Historically, player recruitment relied heavily on subjective human observation and manual data filtering—a process that was not only limited and prone to bias but also time-consuming. The Scout Advisor tool leverages the natural language processing (NLP) capabilities and foundational models of IBM’s watsonx platform to search and analyze vast amounts of information in the club’s existing database to evaluate potential new players. This includes quantitative data such as height, weight, speed, goals scored, or playing time, as well as qualitative, unstructured data like text analysis of hundreds of thousands of scouting reports, enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of player identification.
While the emergence of AI scouting technology in football has, to some extent, reshaped the landscape for professional managers and opened up broader possibilities for the sport’s development, its application and breakthroughs have provided Sevilla with a foundation to identify better players and elevate on-field performance. Empowered by AI, the club can make faster, more efficient, and better-informed decisions, further improving the return on investment for its existing resources.
● International Expansion: Deeply Connected to the Chinese Market
Sevilla FC’s approach to international expansion stands out as unique. In the view of club president José Castro Carmona, focusing on countries with significant untapped potential is key to Sevilla’s growth, making the Chinese market an indispensable part of the club’s strategy.
José Castro’s ambitions for China are far more “audacious” than one might imagine, yet not “reckless.” He believes the club’s development in China is progressing steadily. This includes not only routine efforts like launching a Year of the Snake commemorative T-shirt during the Spring Festival, celebrating Chinese holidays, and sending New Year greetings, but also establishing official accounts on major social media platforms like Weibo and Douyin (TikTok’s Chinese version), where the club has amassed over 2 million followers. Additionally, Sevilla is exploring the possibility of expanding to other platforms like Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book) to reach even more Chinese fans.
At the same time, José Castro emphasized that Sevilla plans to establish six football academies in China over the next three years, adopting a “3+1” training model—three years of specialized training in China followed by one year of intensive training in Spain. This approach allows young players to experience Europe’s top-tier training and competition systems up close, addressing the shortcomings of Chinese players and fostering their development.
Behind the Results Lies Hard Work
From a fan’s perspective, the core criterion for choosing a favorite football club is whether its achievements stand out. However, for the club itself, relying solely on results isn’t enough to attract more fans or boost its influence. Behind the pursuit of better performance lies a vast and intricate ecosystem that requires gradual refinement and consistent effort.
To comprehensively improve match results, a club must strive for excellence in multiple areas—youth academies, technological development, talent reserves, and more—while also taking steps toward internationalization. By integrating into the cultures of various countries and regions, the club can make fans feel that it stands with them, working together and moving forward as a united front to achieve the ultimate goal.
