The city of Toulouse is better known for rugby than football but with the man who brought Thierry Henry, Robin van Persie, Luis Suarez and Luka Modric to England now at the helm, that tide could be turning.

Since Damien Comolli became president in 2020, Toulouse have returned to Ligue 1 and won a first ever Coupe de France in 2023.

They have also developed one of the best youth academies in France – 19 players are currently representing the national team between under-15s and under-21s level.

“We want to bring the academy players into the top professional side fast, so we play and train with all the players in the same way,” Comolli tells BBC Sport, from his glitzy office overlooking the beautiful Garonne river.

“We are always looking at what we call our succession planning. Right now we are looking at boys born in 2008 in our academy to see how we can get them in our first team, rather than find talent outside.”

Traditionally, however, Toulouse have struggled to hold on to their best talents.

“We lose our players early to other clubs,” explains Comolli, who has managed to take a positive from the situation. “This unwanted rotation of players helps us to get players in the first team fast.”

One current prospect exciting Comolli is 19-year-old goalkeeper Guillaume Restes, who joined Toulouse’s academy aged six and established himself as the club’s number one last season.

“Our goalkeeper has the highest transfer market value in the world for an under-19 goalkeeper,” says Comolli. “Our 18-year-olds get exposure to first-team football very quickly. This year, seven players from the academy are playing for the first team.”