OSC Lille Fully Committed to Youth Development

15 June 2025

Alain Wallyn is the Director of Pre-Academy Development at OSC Lille, a renowned professional club in northern France that has played in Ligue 1 for many years. This year, OSC Lille is participating in the Marveld Tournament for the first time. While true football insiders are surely familiar with OSC Lille, we still asked Alain to tell us a bit about his club.

Alain: “OSC Lille isn’t a club with a budget like Paris Saint-Germain, Olympique Marseille, or AS Monaco, so we try to compete at the top of French football in a different way. Years ago, we began building a strong youth academy, which is now regarded as one of the best in the country.

Lille is located in the Hauts-de-France region, a province roughly the size of Belgium. Youth players from this entire area come to Lille’s academy. We also get players from Wallonia, the French-speaking part of Belgium. For example, Eden Hazard joined our youth academy when he was 13 and began his career at OSC. He later went on to play for Chelsea and Real Madrid.”

Have any Dutch players played for your club?
“In the past six months, Chuba Akpom from Ajax was on loan with us. He’s now returned to Amsterdam. We also had Patrick Kluivert, who played at Lille in the final phase of his career. A few years ago, Anwar El Ghazi played for Lille for about a year and a half.”

What is your role at the club, and what defines Lille?
“So I’m responsible for the youth academy at OSC Lille, with a focus on players aged 12 to 16. In France, national competitions only start at the age of 17; the country is too large for younger players to travel long distances regularly.

As for Lille’s identity: our club logo features a dog’s head. That says something about us—once we get a grip on something, we don’t let go! There’s even a statue of a dog at our youth academy.”

What are your goals for this tournament?
“We’re just here to enjoy playing in a good tournament, just like two weeks ago at the Kevin De Bruyne Tournament in Genk. We played very well there too, but couldn’t qualify for the semi-finals due to goal difference. This weekend, we’re going for it again, with a strong focus on mentality!”