Results vs. Growth: Checking In on the Serie C Development Teams | OneFootball

The highest-scoring Vlahovic in Italian professional football isn’t the well-known Serbian striker leading the line for Juventus. That title belongs to Vanja Vlahovic, the 20-year-old of no relation to the Bianconeri’s Dusan, and his 14 goals in 16 Serie C matches for Atalanta U23.

He’s blossoming rapidly in his first full campaign at the professional level, helping validate Atalanta’s decision to follow Juventus’ lead and start an under-23 development team in Serie C.

It’s season two of La Dea’s developmental project, five years after Juventus set the precedent with their Next Gen squad, and Milan became the third Serie A side to follow the trend with the introduction of Milan Futuro this term.

Top-flight clubs sponsoring reserve or development sides in lower professional divisions is commonplace in other countries, such as Germany and Spain, but wasn’t permitted in Italy until 2018.

What changed was Italy’s failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, prompting an intervention from the Italian Football Association (FIGC) which, in part, resulted in the allowance of these reserve teams to be formed in an effort to improve the country’s youth development.

Juventus are now at the point where it’s clear to see the benefits of them being the first to seize the opportunity, with many former Next Gen players establishing themselves both with the Old Lady and beyond.

Atalanta’s youth development and scouting have long been lauded and Milan’s rich vein of young talent made them logical successors. But after more than half of the 2024-25 Serie C, there have been mixed results for all three reserve sides.

The Logistics

The clear benefit of young players getting experience in Serie C is the opportunity to face older, stronger, more experienced opponents than the Primavera (under-19 division).

Development sides participate in the Coppa Italia Serie C and face the pressure of promotion or relegation should they finish the season in those places. The increased intensity and stakes provide a more direct bridge to the first team than the Primavera could ever be.

And it’s certainly a better option than the common practice of persistently loaning out young talents. The development team keeps them within the club’s structure and gives prospects the chance to train with the first team when they’re ready.

Each reserve side is permitted to register a maximum of four players over the age of 23, experienced pros there to provide leadership and guidance to their youthful colleagues.

Having essentially a club within a club supplies added depth in the event of a depleted first team as well, something that’s proven necessary for Milan and Juve this season.

An important contrast between the trio of development teams and the majority of their Serie C counterparts is that those three aren’t hard pressed to push for promotion, nor do they have fanbases dreaming of climbing the divisions.

Juve Next Gen, Milan Futuro and Atalanta U23 all have to earn their place in the division every year, as they aren’t protected from relegation and are allowed to be promoted so long as they don’t play in the same league as the senior team.

It’s likely that demotion to the semi-professional fourth tier would put any of those projects in disarray, although newly-promoted Serie D clubs often fail to meet registration requirements for Serie C and a relegated development side would presumably be first on the list to fill the vacancy.

Nonetheless, Milan Futuro and Juventus Next Gen both find themselves in relegation play-out spots after 21 matches. The 60-team Serie C is split into three, geographically organized 20-team groups, with Atalanta U23 in Group A, Milan Futuro in Group B and Juve Next Gen in Group C.

Atalanta U23 are the standouts, sitting fourth in their section while winning three straight to conclude the calendar year. Meanwhile, Milan Futuro are 18th in Group B, winning just three of 21, and Juve Next Gen enter January at 16th in Group C.

Although the primary aim of all these projects is to foster improvement of young players and build a sustainable future for the first team, a balance must be struck between growth and results.

Vlahovic’s explosion and the rise of other starlets for Atalanta U23, such as former Barcelona youth player Albert Navarro in defense, paired with their comfortable place in the top 10, shows that La Dea have, unsurprisingly, found this equilibrium rather quickly.

Milan Futuro should probably be pardoned a bit for their poor results, given that it’s their first year of existence, but it has already allowed talents like Francesco Camarda and Alex Jimenez to integrate with the senior team.

Meanwhile, if Juve Next Gen keep the same pace it’ll be their worst finish since joining Serie C before the 2018-19 campaign. They made the promotion playoff in four of their first six seasons, including a best-yet seventh last term, but there are a few factors contributing to the 2024-25 downswing.

For one, the Bianconeri reserves had to switch to Group C this year (the southern section) as the rules currently state that the development sides can’t play in the same group. With all three being based up north the decision was made via random draw, and now the Next Gen’s closest away trip is more than 440 miles.

And Juventus’ reserves have certainly missed the likes of Samuel Mbangula, Nicolò Savona and Jonas Rouhi, who have all spent far more time with the first team due to a rash of early-season injuries.

But the fact that those three, especially Mbangula and Savona, were immediately available and have rapidly established themselves in Thiago Motta’s setup furthers the notion that development teams are the future.