"In the future, every player will have their own psychologist."
Davide Ancelotti's words are delivered with care, in trademark family fashion. They hint at a personal journey that began with his father almost 20 years ago, when Carlo Ancelotti's AC Milan were pioneering the use of psychological support in European football.
They also show how demands and resources thrown at contemporary elite players are intensifying the focus on the game's mental side.
Ancelotti has been assistant coach at Real Madrid since 2021, when his father Carlo was appointed manager. The 33-year-old, who has managerial ambitions of his own, is among a new generation looking again at this field of science for ways to improve their teams.
At least one Premier League club's sports science department has 'psychologically coded' players to record confidence, focus and motivation levels, while top European sides are trialling brain imaging and virtual reality technology in a bid to improve cognitive skills such as perception.
But there is also an opposing force at play - what one expert describes as a "traditional culture of conservatism" behind the "risk-averse" attitude and "taboos" that still permeate the game of football.