In an interview with Torino Sport on the occasion of the announcement of the shortlist for the 2024 Golden Boy Award, former Porto boss Sergio Conceição shared his insights on the development of young players and talked about his son Francesco Conceição, who is currently playing for Juventus. Conceição emphasized that developing young talent requires a great deal of effort in both the initial and final stages, as soccer is extremely competitive at a high level and success often depends on a player's mentality and perception of soccer as a difficult profession. He mentioned that while some youngsters are already technically strong, coaches must go beyond the technical level and teach them more, including mentality adjustment and game adaptation. He cited Luis Diaz as an example of a player who, after arriving at Porto from a small Colombian team, managed to make the move to Liverpool after a year and a half of hard work.
Speaking about his son Francesco Conceição, Conceição expressed his regret that he will miss Juventus' marquee match against Lazio due to suspension. As a fan of Italian soccer, Conceição is looking forward to the clash and revealed that he won many honors during his time at Lazio, including his first goal in Italy when he scored against Juventus in the 1998 Italian Super Cup. Conceição expressed his satisfaction with Francesco's start at Juve, describing him as fast and good at one-on-ones, and revealed that he advised his son to join Juve as they are one of the biggest clubs in the world. However, Conceição also reminded his son that in order to excel in Italy, he needs to add other aspects to his game besides technical improvement, such as staying humble, listening to his coaches and teammates, as well as constant self-reflection and improvement.
Francesco Conceição, 21, joined Juventus on loan from Porto this summer, and has so far played 4 official matches for Juve, contributing 2 goals and 1 assist. However, he will miss Juve's home match with Lazio this weekend due to suspension after being sent off for two yellows and a red in Juve's draw with Cagliari in the 7th round of Serie A. Nonetheless, Conceição is confident in his son's future, believing that he will be able to achieve more if he focuses on his soccer career and keeps putting in the hard work.
