Montpellier FC have long been known for developing talent in women’s football, both through their own academy and as a destination for young players looking to take the next step. But converting that pedigree into results means finding value where other teams aren't looking.

In October 2025, the club was acquired by Crux Football, the women’s football multi-club ownership group founded by former New Zealand international Bex Smith that is also a co-owner of Sweden’s FC Rosengård.

We had the chance to speak with Ted Knutson, Crux Football’s Strategic Director of Football, about the approach they are taking at the club and how SkillCorner data fits into the equation.

Watch the full interview below, or read on for the story.

Prior to the acquisition, Crux Football had identified Montpellier FC as one of the best development environments in women’s football. They felt that there was an opportunity to add their expertise in recruitment and management to that foundation and eventually return the club to European contention.

“It gave us the opportunity to be able to bring in players from outside and add to an already excellent development group and continue their progression,” says Knutson. “Player trading in any type of football is about finding talent… improving them, and that's very much the model that we've done here.”

“A lot of times for someone with our budget, we don't really have the ability to bring on top-tier stars. We need to bring on players that are somewhat unpolished gems and continue to improve them so they can hit their goals and their potential.”

To identify those players, they needed access to high-quality data aligned to the demands of women’s football.

“Honestly, SkillCorner were the only provider we looked at,” explains Knutson. “It was the only provider we thought was good enough to contribute data to our profiles and our evaluations. The quality of the data is very good.”

Montpellier FC have signed players from a variety of leagues since the acquisition. Being able to benchmark performance across competitions is key to finding players suited to the demands of the Première Ligue.

“We like the physical data to be able to tell which players are at least fitting in well in their own leagues and then look at comparables across the whole of the space,” says Knutson. “It’s a really nice complement to rounding out the picture of how the players play, and also their ability to meet the needs of the modern game.”

Summer signings Natalia Oleszkiewicz (from Trabzonspor), Suya Haering (from FC Carl Zeiss Jena) and Solène Durand (from Sassuolo) have all contributed positively to Montpellier FC’s start to the new campaign, a first step towards loftier long-term objectives.

“I would say that our future goals are to be comfortably mid-table, and then from there, we hope to move into the European ranks,” says Knutson. “At the moment, we think that's possible given the type of work that we do and our ability to find players that we can develop into players of that top tier and top quality. It's extremely challenging—in many cases, slightly tougher and more difficult than we would have expected—but we're looking forward to being able to do this for the long term and hopefully getting a lot of good results out of it.”

By pairing a proven development environment with a scouting process supported by high-quality data, Crux Football and Montpellier FC are laying the foundations for future success.

Montpellier FC are one of 350+ teams around the world who trust in SkillCorner data to power smarter decisions.

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