'I don't think we will ever have many' - what next for multi-club model?

BBC News

05-05-2025

Academy director Stephen Torpey joined Brentford in January 2023 to lead what he feels is a "clean slate" having worked with the likes of Enzo Maresca, Pep Guardiola, Cole Palmer and Phil Foden at Manchester City, while also working with Rodolfo Borrell, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones at Liverpool.Torpey is taking charge of the revamping of Brentford's academy after they decided to reintroduce the youth system.Speaking at the launch of Brentford's news academy building, Torpey explained: "I was so fortunate to be around great people at City and Liverpool - a lot of people I worked with have gone onto great things - a lot of players I've worked with have gone onto play for their teams, but I'm proud of those who didn't succeed, became coaches or play at a lower level."Brentford's growth off the field extends to owner Matthew Benham's restructure of the club into a new holding company - Best Intentions Analytics, which bought Spanish third division club Merida. Director of football Phil Giles further explained the strategy behind the expansion: "Merida will be run for its own success, first in Spain but it is also close to Portugal, so it is one of the markets many clubs look at. It was an opportunity as the previous owner Mark Heffernan was looking to sell, did good work and knew Matthew Benham already and it was sensible numbers. "There will be a conversation about a link but that's very early in the process. We will look at how Brentford can help Merida grow and win, and help players develop for Brentford. It is easy to say it but hard to do it in practice so both are successful. "I don't think we will ever have many clubs [in the multi-club model]. At this stage, we are not looking for another club but it doesn't mean we are not open in the future. We just want to do this really well and we are trying embed the relationships on the ground, settle it down and that will take time."Read more from Giles on the academy and profit and sustainability rules below.