Now, though, he is back in Lisbon helping to continue an incredible production line of talent in his role as technical director of youth football at Benfica as he aims to continue the tradition of producing some of Europe’s best young players.
Right now, the huge number of former Benfica academy stars at top clubs around the continent include Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias, Ederson and Joao Cancelo at Marquez’s former club City as well as Victor Lindelof at Manchester United, Joao Felix at Atletico Madrid, Goncalo Guedes at Valencia, Danilo Pereira at Paris Saint-Germain and Renato Sanches, who is now impressing for Lille having previously spent time at Bayern Munich.
“I have a dream that Benfica can win the Champions League with four or five players from the academy,” technical youth co-ordinator Rodrigo Conceicao tells Ghanabet. “It is possible because if you look at the quality of the players we’ve produced. “For me, Benfica is the top. The other clubs don’t have the same level. When they grow up here they grow with Benfica in their hearts. One of the main factors is the passion that takes them to a high level.”
According to the Soccerex Football Finance 100 for 2020, Benfica is the 64th biggest club in the world in terms of financial power. Stoke City, who narrowly avoided relegation to the third tier of English football last season, was one place above them in 63rd.
“For us, the investment is part of the long-term vision and a strategic pillar for the club,” Marquez tells Ghanabet. “It’s been going for the last 10 or 15 years and is part of our sustainability. We work every day so that investment will pay off and add value to the players.
Pep Guardiola is clearly a fan of the work being done at Benfica, with a whole host of their former players have joined him during his four years at the Etihad Stadium. Known for his technical and tactical approach, Guardiola likes intelligent players that can cope with his own high demands, but also react to what is happening during a match.
“We have to teach them how to make decisions and to see the game. It’s no good learning one format and there’s a change of coach or they change club and they don’t know what to do. “Bernardo, for example, is a very intelligent player while Ruben [Dias] is a leader and a coach inside the game, always talking with his team-mates and telling them what is happening.
“We can see what other people don’t see,” says Conceicao, who has worked with players aged between the ages of six and 15 for the last 15 years, when asked about the secret of the academy’s ability to produce so many players.
“With data, we can choose the players that we need to wait for, like Bernardo or Felix, because they have other attributes like game knowledge, decision-making, and high technical level. “We need to give them a good environment to develop their skills because when they physically develop to be at the same level as the other players, they will be at the very top.”
“That is our culture from the 1960s,” he says. “When Benfica really grew up with the team around Eusebio and Mario Coluna, they were always fighting, they never gave up. They were very hard-working players and we teach them that a high-level player is always working.
The coaching staff have worked for a number of years to evolve their techniques, but believe that keeping the love of the game and not “overcoaching” any individuality out of a player’s game has always been important. “Sometimes you have to not damage natural talent,” Marquez says. “To take it care of it through the pathway and to help it emerge rather than to coach too much.”
“Their first game with the Benfica shirt when they are young, playing for the ‘B’ team in a professional league, getting into the first-team squad, their first Champions League game or first goal at Estadio da Luz or when they get to the national team. It’s fantastic to see that.”