On the 28th of August Kudus signed for £38 million pounds for West Ham from Ajax. The Ghanaian international has an eye for goal, immense technical ability, and the talent to play a killer final ball whether on the wing or through the middle. Though clearly guilty of possessing immense natural ability as seen in his time at both Fc Nordsjelland and Ajax, his qualities were refined and developed at one of football’s newest great academies. This footballing school is known as the Right to Dream Academy whose program is giving opportunities to the next generation of talent in Africa. 

The right to Dream Academy itself has particularly humble beginnings. It was birthed in the personal home of former Man United Scout Tom Vernon in Accra, Ghana when he first took in his first 16 scholars. The road to success was not always assured and the academy almost ran out of money more than once. Using money from an initiative offering football coaching gap years in Accra Vernon was able to move his players out of the house and start the journey to being Africa’s best academy with a unique approach.

Starkly different from the machine that is most football academies ‘Right to Dream’ has taken a very holistic approach to the development young players’ footballing, academic, and social abilities. Tom Vernon sees outside interest as less of a hindrance to young scholars and more as a bonus. “It is a project that goes beyond playing games. The more the players are engaged outside the pitch the better players they will become. If it is only football each day then we are missing something.” This isn’t simply a nice-sounding slogan, it really works. Currently, there are 50 players from the Right to dream academy playing professionally in Europe and 70 kids at universities in the US. The reality is that most academy prospects will not make it, in England less than 30% of academy players will get a professional contract. Right to Dreams broad approach towards player development helps set up players who won’t make it for a life outside of football. In Practical terms this has meant keeping on players who won’t make it in professional football to grant them alternative career opportunities. ‘there can’t be any thought in your mind that if a kid has a bad season you ask him to go home. It’s pretty morally bankrupt thinking’ says Vernon. Right to Dream seems to see the players as humans first and potential profit second. 

Right to Dream are trendsetters becoming the first NGO to buy a football club when they acquired FC Nordsjaelland 6 years ago. The partnership has proved brilliant both for the prospects of the club and the players of the Right to Dream academy which now call Farum,a small town near Copenhagen, home. Nordsjaelland has gone from strength to strength in the last couple of years. Exciting academy players are part of the cause of the club’s rapid transformation from also-rans to title challengers with the youngest average age in European football. Kudus is not an anomalous talent The club has already sold last season’s Danish Superligen Top scorer and player of the season, Ernest Nuamah for 25 million euros. Last season despite losing in the playoffs the team had finished the regular season on top. This was all while using An interesting tactical approach that former Real Madrid goalkeeper Luis Lopes said “FC Norsdjælland reminds me a lot of Barça, especially in their game model, how they approach the game, and their work with their academy.” In an interview, Ex technical director Flemming Pederson suggests a key to their success has been the simplification of the game for the players distilling football down to small sided games and drills. 

Its clear so far that the right to Dream to dream academy and FC Nordsjaeland have been responsible for nurturing some of Africa’s best talents. Now it is showing indications that it will expand after being bought out for $120 million by the Mansour group. This influx of capital has enabled them to purchase TUT FC a team in Egypt that provides professional football for both their men’s and women’s academies. In an even bigger move, the right to Dream Academy is also going to be part of a joint acquisition of an MLS team based in San Diego that will take the pitch in 2025. However, with the injection of cash from an Egyptian billionaire only time will tell if the people’s first approach towards player development will be dropped in an effort to increase profits. Whatever the future has in store it will be a far cry from the makeshift digs in Tom Vernon’s house and financial insolvency. 

 One certainty is that there are a few very exciting right-to-dream academy graduates to look out for this season. Most obviously Kudus at West Ham will be expected to light the prem on fire in his debut season, Simon Adringa at Brighton may have a breakout season and Sulemana could make an early career remontada at Southampton in the championship this season. One thing is for sure the academy’s commitment to thinking outside the box has allowed them to dream a little bigger. 

Will Crawford