Pedro Marques is the new technical director of youth football

After eight years in England, where he worked for Manchester City, Pedro Marques returns to Portugal to take office as technical director of SL Benfica, being in charge of the technical coordination of the youth football, including the B team and the transition process of youngsters to the professional football.

Graduated in Physical Education and Sports Science with a football specialization, and a Post-Graduation in High-Performance Training at Faculty of Human Kinetics in Lisbon, he began working at Sporting CP in 2004, as youth football coach. However, it was in the match analysis area that he stood out, moving to the first team, where he worked closely with Paulo Bento and Carlos Carvalhal.

In 2010, he moved to England to collaborate with Manchester City, where he worked with Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini, contributing for the rise of the English club that, in four years, won all domestic trophies and secured regular presence in the Champions League.

During this period, he always kept the connection with the youth football, contributing to the redevelopment of the citizens' academy, the development of the current game model and training methodology.

More recently, from the 2014/15 season, with the launch of a new global strategy and the creation of the City Football Group, he began coordinating the expansion of the game model, the development of the training methodology e the performance analysis, not only in Manchester, with Pep Guardiola, but also with the other City clubs: New York City FC (United States of America), Melbourne City FC (Australia), Yokohama f. Marinos (Japan), Girona FC (Espanha) and CA Torque (Uruguay).

The experience accumulated by Pedro Marques will represent a huge added value to the development of young talents project that Benfica is involved for more than a decade.

From July 1st, Pedro Marques will work in the team led by the professor Pedro Mil-Homens, ensuring also a close cooperation with the Professional Football department.

He will have as his assistant technical director Rodrigo Magalhães, who integrates the Youth Football of Sport Lisboa e Benfica for 13 years.

Sport Lisboa e Benfica wishes great success for its new employee.

To the professor João Santos, who, throughout more than 10 years, worked as technical director of the youth football of Sport Lisboa e Benfica, the Club's Board and the administration of the SAD thank all the commitment and enthusiasm with which he always guided his professional intervention.

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