The Paris Saint-Germain Academy opens two new sites in Turkey

After opening five new centres in less than a year (two in Istanbul, plus centres in Antalya, Ankara and Bursa), bringing together a total of 476 young recruits, the Paris Saint-Germain Academy Turkey is continuing to expand by opening two new sites in October 2019. It now has seven centres across the country.

On 12^th October, the Paris Saint-Germain Academy Turkey opened a new football school in Izmir (Bornova Langırt Spor Tesisleri). Fabien Allègre, Director of Brand Diversification at Paris Saint-Germain, announced: “We are delighted to inaugurate this sixth centre in Izmir. It is a continuation of the club’s international development. By opening this new centre, the Paris Saint-Germain Academy Turkey has become one of the Club’s largest academies outside France. The Parisian club is gradually becoming a part of young Turkish players’ daily lives, and is a means of sharing our values and our vision of football with them.”

The opening press conference was attended by parents, children and journalists, who were all thrilled about Paris Saint-Germain coming to Izmir. On this occasion, around 120 children took part in the first training session on one of the pitches in the sports complex, under the watchful eye of Hamza Gezmis, the Academy’s Technical Director. This football school will be able to welcome 220 children, and 23 youngsters have already signed up.

A few days later, the Paris Saint-Germain Academy Turkey continued its expansion by opening a seventh site, the third in Istanbul (Florya Senlikköy Stadyumu). More than 200 people turned up to the opening. The founder of the Academy, Turje Nihat Uğurlu, announced: “Paris Saint-Germain is being adopted all over Turkey, thanks to its presence in all of the major cities. This new site, set up in a top-quality sports complex, is an important building block in our mission to become the most prestigious football academy in the country. We are laying the foundations for a fantastic story here in Turkey, and it is further enriched with every new project.” 

These two consecutive openings demonstrate the strong relationship between the club and Turkey, and the ambitions that the Paris Saint-Germain Academy has in this country.