Tonight’s guest on Inter Channel’s Prima Serata was Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio.
It begins with practical advice for a Nerazzurri fan in Switzerland who dreams of having a trial with a big club, although Ausilio explained: “A player born in 1995, like the writer of this letter, would have a difficult time getting into professional football through a trial. Usually, by 14 or 15 years old, a player must already have a path of development organised with a football team and then take advantage of the scouting of Italian and foreign clubs.”
Ausilio continued: “There is no specific parameter that tells you in advance when a young talent is ready. Age certainly counts for a lot. With the younger kids you try to make out capabilities and possibilities, and in the older ones who are more complete, you make a point of observing more specific aspects such as physicality, personality, the knowledge of how to move on the pitch, particularities, attitudes, etc. I’m rather from the old school of thought, that of Casiraghi – our trainer – and if there’s a player we have an eye on, I don’t like to watch him too many times. He’s always said that you need to watch him two or three times at the most, because otherwise you risk focusing on the defects rather than the things that initially made an impression on you.”
“Our rationale has always been to improve the team and it always will be. When you sign a player you’re always convinced you’re making the best choice, but then perhaps sometimes it turns out to be the wrong one. But I can say without conceit that at Inter in these years we have done more things right than wrong. The goal is to improve continuously, and this is the rationale used by myself, Marco Branca, the coach and president Moratti.”
And it was on this premise during Prima Serata on Inter Channel that sporting director Piero Ausilio began to rattle off names that are more or less known, real or presumed Nerazzurri transfer targets. Starting with the full-back role, Ausilio was shown footage of Sebastian Jung, Aleksandar Kolarov and Bacary Sagna. Among the three, the director spoke only about the German defender at Eintracht Frankfurt: “He’s a young lad. I can’t deny that we’re following him. But just because we’re observing him doesn’t necessarily mean we’ve taken steps to sign him.”
Next it was on to the centre of defence, with Ausilio explaining that of the three players on the screen – Angelo Ogbonna, Vlad Chiriches and Igor Lichnovsky – the one who is the most ready “is definitely Ogbonna”. Then among the midfield options displayed the sporting director spoke only of Quintero, “because it just so happens that I’ve already spoken about the lad. We tried to do something with him, but the problem is when you’re dealing with talented youngsters with non-EU passports you have to make choices related to the moment. Pescara took advantage of the fact that they could get him on their books. We tried but we would have had to structure the move in collaboration with other clubs, and in the end we had to give up. We’re still following him however, and I’m glad he came to Italy because he’s a young, talented kid who’s doing well.”
On the subject of Pescara, Marco Verratti’s name was also brought up. Ausilio had this to say about the Italy midfielder now plying his trade at PSG: “He’s an excellent footballer and I think a key moment in his development came when Zeman moved him into a different position. He used to play as an attacking midfielder, just like Pirlo, the difference being that Verratti dropped into a deeper role at a very young age. Carlo Ancelotti had the idea of playing him in front of the defence and now he’s become one of the best. I hope he can follow in Pirlo’s footsteps, he’s got bags of quality, but life is about moments. When we had the chance to chat to the boy, last July, we had invested a lot of money in a player who will be the future of Inter, Guarin. Then Gargano and Mudingayi, who are sure to be very useful to Inter’s cause, were brought in on loan. They are totally different players to Verratti but they fit the profile we needed. I think with Verratti it was hoped, and not only by us, to gain a bit of time, but when clubs like PSG come in, as they did with Lavezzi and Lucas, you can’t really do much. PSG always swoop to snap up our targets after we’ve done the scouting work? That’s something I must ask Leonardo about… [smiling] I’m joking of course, he does his job very well.”
Nerazzurri fans asked Inter’s sporting director about Lazar Markovic, the Serbian starlet who plays for Partizan Belgrade: “He’s a young, talented lad but he definitely needs to continue his development because a single game – the one he played against us in San Siro – is not enough to say that he’s the right player for us. I’m told he’s got his head screwed on and is a hard worker, but it’s the same situation we had with Quintero because he’s also non-EU. Serbia isn’t a member of the European Union at the moment so Markovic is on the same level as a Brazilian. He’s certainly a player we’ll keep an eye on.”
Players who have done well after changing teams, such as Lodi, Bergessio, Cigarini, “are not extravagant,” Ausilio explained, “because you get players who give the best of themselves in a certain setting. Cigarini and Denis can have a great future in Bergamo, for example, though I think they are already at a big team.”
Is it difficult to complete transfer deals in Germany? That was a question put to Piero Ausilio in the context of a potential move for Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels for the post-Samuel era. “Germany is in observed. “They’ve undertaken a big project involving stadiums and youth academies and now they are reaping the rewards.”
More names were reeled off: Funes Mori (“We’re looking at him, but no more so than many others. It wouldn’t be right if you went to Argentina and didn’t watch River… It’s one of those clubs you always keep an eye on”), Giuseppe Rossi (“He’s trying to make sure he recovers properly from his injury, he’s been sidelined for a year and a half. I wish him all the best. Let’s wait for him to return, then we’ll see”), Nagatomo and whether he might be able to follow a similar path to Zanetti’s (“I hope he can, he’s an extremely useful player with his ability to produce the same top performances in different positions”) and then explained how the Coutinho deal came about: “He has always been highly rated in Brazil, a player that everyone was talking about like Neymar. At the time it was difficult to say which of the two was better. The difference was that with Philippe we were able to find the right conditions to sign him. He stayed at Vasco for two years to mature and develop further. His club was very understanding and helpful and he arrived in Italy shortly before his 18th birthday, in August 2010. Today it would be impossible to to do a similar deal at the same financial conditions. Neymar’s situation with Santos was complicated, now he’s a player the whole of Europe wants but I don’t think he’ll move from Brazil before the 2014 World Cup.”
Speaking of the future, Ausilio provided some insight into how the club will work moving forward: “We were one of the first clubs in Italy to conceive the idea of an international youth academy, back in 2001-2002 with Martins and Pandev, for example. We signed Biabiany when he wasn’t even plying at professional level, but for a while now the line we’ve taken with Roberto Samaden and Pierluigi Casiraghi – a little different to how we did things in the past – is to rediscover Italian talents. Excellent scouting of the youngest boys and a lot of work with Italian footballers.”
Finally, when asked by a fan to avoid any further controversy with Juventus because it’s not worth it, Inter’s sporting director replied in concise fashion: “Honestly, we don’t talk a lot. We’re certainly not famous for being particularly loquacious.”
Source: inter.it
