by Harry Brown
The Estonian Talent Project, launched in 2024, unites academies nationwide to develop players aged 12–15 under the guidance of Thomas Maibaum, Ragnar Klavan, and Nikita Martynov. Already, 75% of participants feature for youth national teams, with squads facing top clubs like Ajax and PSG. The project aims to build a long-term pipeline for Estonia’s football future.
The Estonian national team has achieved regional success in recent years, as just last year they won their 5th Baltic Cup (and second in the past three attempts) by defeating Lithuania in a penalty shootout. The national team also finished third in their UEFA Nations League C group, beating Azerbaijan and gaining four points as they avoided relegation from the Nations League for the second time after competing in League D in 2022.
To build on this recent success, in 2024, the Estonian Talent Project was launched, a youth development initiative created for young Estonian footballers aged 12-15. The aim of the project is to unify football academies across Estonia to accelerate the development of young talent and boost the nation’s football competitiveness internationally.
The project is run by three founding members: Thomas Maibaum, who came over to Estonia from Germany to work at FC Nõmme United and is now the sporting director at JK Tallinna Kalev, former Liverpool and National Team player Ragnar Klavan, and Nikita Martynov, who works as a coach at FCI Levadia.
Nikita tells us the project is still in its early stages, “the first of a three-year plan is coming to an end, and the goal is to keep developing further. We are very pleased with the first year, as almost everything we planned was achieved.”
At its core, the Estonian football project works with eight partner clubs across the country for a player selection process, identifying and uniting Estonia’s most promising young footballers. Nikita spoke about how players must remain committed to the project to garner any success. “A young footballer must have the desire and ambition to show his talent. Our task is to create conditions for that.”
However, he also knows that real results will take years to appear: “We will only be able to see true success in 4-5 years, when we find out how many players have reached professional football. This year was excellent. We achieved good results at tournaments against top academies such as Ajax, Liverpool etc. We are competitive, and that is already a success for us today.”
However, for the project and many clubs in Estonia, limited funding and outdated infrastructure have long hindered growth. Nikita spoke candidly about these challenges: “The lack of financial resources and infrastructure is the main problem. Our solution is good work with young players, helping them move abroad so that clubs can earn transfer fees and achieve success in European competition.” By investing in youth development and targeting European success, they hope to transform the local football scene into a competitive, export-ready powerhouse.
No player from the project has moved abroad yet, as they are still far too young, but Nikita says that 75% of the project’s players are already representing Estonia at the youth national team level, across all age groups. The project has played some of Europe’s elite clubs as they have faced the likes of PSG, Manchester United, Ajax, Club Brugge, and many others. “This is our main idea: sparring against strong opponents so that our players can regularly gain experience playing at a high level. The most important thing is that they realise they can play and win at the highest continental levels.”
Expanding their focus to younger talent, the Estonian Talent Project is taking the next step. “We believe in this. We are always working with clubs to continue and develop young players. From September on, we will already start with the next age group – boys born in 2014.” This expansion allows the project to build a pipeline of talent that can contribute to the country’s long-term success.
Nikita finished by saying, “let our results and the success of the players speak for themselves. One thing I can say for sure: we are working for Estonian football.”
By investing in youth and fostering a culture of development, the project is contributing directly to the Estonian national team’s momentum. The recent successes of Estonia’s squad may just be the beginning, as tomorrow’s internationals are taking their first steps under the guidance of the Estonian Talent Project.
