Pedri's upbringing began with the Las Palmas Academy, dedicated to spontaneity and creativity

Coaches and players at the Las Palmas Sports League youth academy have a mantra: sleep with the ball and wake up with the books. To help the youngsters in the academy reach the professional level, it is necessary to devote time to both football and school.

This idea is especially true at La Casa Amarilla (or The Yellow House in English), where Las Palmas is based, two kilometers from Estadio Gran Canaria, About 20 teenagers from out of town are staying at any one time. There they live, train and learn together and hope to succeed in the world of football.

On The walls of The Yellow House are several inspirational posters showing high-achieving alumni of Las Palmas College. They include Juan Carlos Valeron, Ruben Castro, Roque Mesa, Jonathan Viera, Vitolo and Sandro, as well as Barca midfielder Pedri, who trained here a few years ago.

It is no coincidence that many of these players play a creative style. Manuel Rodriguez 'Tonono,' the academy's longtime director of recruiting and training, explains: "We've always been associated with players who like to have the ball. For me, it is vital to encourage spontaneity and creativity. We must not restrict the freedom and initiative of young people. I think it's something we have to look at, especially now that there is less and less street football, which is still a great course in development. Logically, we must ensure quality in the process while promoting creativity and spontaneity to produce a more creative style."

This creativity is partly innate and partly cultivated. Explaining how academy coaches play their part, Tonono added: "In the early stages, we emphasise learning to play through matches and the players start to analyse, decide and execute, which are the three fundamental aspects in the training process. And then young people start to play, learn how to play football, and use space, time and skill."

In the academy, it is absolutely vital to stimulate creativity and keep young people excited about the sport, so all young people know this slogan well. As Tonono puts it: "Mozart would say that when he stopped playing piano for a day, he noticed it. When he stops playing for a few days, others take notice. So we have a slogan that goes to bed with the ball and wakes up with the book. If a young man really wants to reach the professional level, a lot of time needs to be spent on football and we must not stand in the way of this creativity, we should encourage the development of spontaneity and decision-making skills."

Essentially, the Las Palmas coach's approach is to intervene infrequently but decisively. Tonono added: "I always stress that there are three main enemies in the learning process: fear, boredom and sometimes the coach. Therefore, while we may seem harsh, we must avoid becoming tension-creating molecules in the process. I think it's critical to encourage creativity at all stages, but especially in the early stages, what we call the initial stages and the primary stages."

Academies across Spain are currently receiving additional investment as a result of the Boost LaLiga scheme, and Tonono is keen to put this money towards hiring and training the best coaches, as well as improving youth facilities.

Speaking about the investment in Las Palmas' academy, the director explained: "I think it is important, LaLiga clubs should be very happy with the help that Boost LaLiga provides. For those of us who have been deep in this field for years, we really think this is the right thing to do and something to celebrate. The investment of the good clubs is not only in the physical infrastructure, La Liga is promoting it, and I am very happy about that, but also in the coaches, in the people who are inspiring, in the people who have the passion, in the people who have the knowledge, in the people who have the ability to translate that knowledge."

Find talent from places like the Canary Islands

It is clear that Las Palmas has an effective approach that can help develop some of the most expressive and talented players in Spanish football. However, it is also important for clubs to discover players.

Currently, Las Palmas has agreements with 112 clubs from the archipelago. Most of them are from Gran Canaria, but some are from Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, El Hierro, Gomera and Tenerife. Regarding the relationship with these smaller and neighbouring academies, the Las Palmas director said: "We see ourselves as the leader of football in the Canary Islands, and for us we have to build links with grassroots and local football. Logically, we must actively engage in cooperation. We don't want blackmail agreements, instead we want to establish cooperation agreements because we have learned a lot from these clubs."

There have even been a few players who have moved from mainland Spain to The Yellow House, which is testament to the academy's good reputation. In any case, Las Palmas do not bring in players until they have reached the league level at the age of 15, believing that players before that young age are better off in a family environment.

That was the case with Pedri, who grew up in Tenerife but has been closely watched by Las Palmas over the years. When he was at The right age, he was brought into The Yellow House and quickly promoted to the first team before moving to Barca, taking a starting spot in the Catalan side and starring in the Spanish national team.

Tonono is proud of what Pedri has achieved and believes there are others in the academy who could also break into professional football in the coming years. "Pedri has the creativity and magic of Magic Johnson and the precision of a billiard player," he said. There are a lot of very good players here and I want them to be able to play at a professional level and I want us to appreciate their talent, but also their creativity and style. I hope they continue to have the wind at their back."

Pedri's example sums up the success of Las Palmas. They have an eye for finding players, not only coaching their players, but also promoting them at the right time to produce talented and creative footballers.

For Tonono, this is exactly what Las Palmas must insist on. As he puts it: "There is a key triangle of discovery, education and promotion. There are many clubs that do a good job of scouting and training, but their efforts may not bear fruit because they don't scout players well. For us, the triangle must be unbreakable."