Former Juventus chief scout Matteo Tognozzi, who recently left for Granada, reflected on his successes and failures in Turin, providing the backstory on various deals.
Tognozzi spent six years with the Bianconeri from July 2017 to October of this year, starting out as Foreign Countries Scouting Supervisor before being promoted to Scouting Manager and subsequently Head of Scouting.
Juventus have started to take on an increasingly youthful look in recent years, placing greater trust in young talents like Fabio Miretti, Dean Huijsen and Samuel Iling-Junior. Their usage of a second team has also been praised, allowing them to both develop youth players and integrate signings from abroad.
Speaking on pages two and three of today’s Tuttosport, Tognozzi first reflected on his time with Juventus and decision to leave for Granada.
“After six and a half years a circle has closed. I could have stayed in Turin and enjoyed the results that were arriving, but I needed new motivations. At Juventus I had achieved my goals, now I’m looking for new ones.
“I’m happy to have created and left a working method and a scouting structure that has brought in quality young players, they need courage, planning and the second team.
“Until a few years ago it seemed impossible that Juve could sign young players who were still little known, now they can become a magnet for those who want to complete their growth.
“We need to create a reality in which the talent feels at ease, and today Juve are the best club in which a boy can train.”
He looked back at the deals for Huijsen and Kaio Jorge.
“To scout Huijsen I found myself under a snowstorm in Granada, where I work today, for an Under-16 league match against Malaga. To get Kaio Jorge from Santos it went even worse.
“Summer 2021, there were still many restrictions due to Covid and in order not to quarantine in Brazil I couldn’t stay more than five days.
“But the negotiation was longer, with his agents we stayed in the hotel for a week and so upon returning to Italy, I had to remain isolated during the August holiday alone in a room at the J Hotel.”
The former chief scout commented on the deal with Fiorentina for Dusan Vlahovic.
“For me it was fantastic to have a role in the negotiation that brought Vlahovic to Juve. I had worked a lot behind the scenes and made many trips to build a relationship with him and his agents, with whom we had to deal with first, but thanks to those interactions when there was the possibility of taking Dusan in the January transfer market, we were ready to close for him.”
Tognozzi spoke about his memories of Matias Soule.
“The first time I saw him live he was a Velez-Boca Juniors Under 12, Matias was 11 years old and playing underage.
“He couldn’t sign with us yet, and sometime later he put himself on display with Argentina in a tournament where there were scouts from all over the world and we risked losing the advantage of having known him for some time.
“But thanks to the relationship built in those years, when it was time to come to Europe the boy only wanted Juve, despite there being at least 10 other top clubs ready to sign him.”
He was asked about Kenan Yildiz, who has recently broken into the Juventus first team.
“We signed him from Bayern Munich in the days when their sporting director Salihamidzic was in Turin to close for De Ligt.
“It was said that Kenan was about to sign with Barcelona, and we let everyone believe it, we were afraid that the deal could influence the sale of the Dutchman.”
The former Juventus chief scout touched on the deal for Timothy Weah in the summer.
“We took a big risk, because we knew him since he was a striker in the PSG youth team, but he hadn’t played as a defensive wing back for a long time.
“In reality he convinced us a year ago when Fonseca changed his role, his case confirms the importance of continuing to scout players even at first team level, during the winter break for the last World Cup we went around all of Europe to watch Lille’s friendlies.”
He revealed that Juventus tried to sign Jude Bellingham.
“It’s the big regret. In 2019 we were close, I had met him and his family, but the boy decided to continue his growth path at Birmingham.”
Tognozzi also confirmed that the Bianconeri tried to pick up Erling Haaland.
“We were really one step away from Erling Haaland. November 2017, I arrived four months prior, the Norwegian was one of the first contacts I made at Juventus. I had him in hand, the idea was to sign him for the Primavera, but the deal was considered too expensive for the youth team.
“At that time, he was still on the bench at Molde, but within a few weeks he started playing and scoring, so everyone went after him.
“Many scouts experience these situations as frustrating, but by working closely with the management I understood that they are inevitable. The awareness of having worked well remains.”
Finally, Tognozzi discussed some other exciting players in the Juventus youth system.
“Nonge Boende will arrive soon, an incredible talent that I put on the same level as Huijsen and Yildiz, his debut in the first team is close.
“Another promising talent is Mazur, a midfielder born in 2007 who is technical, physical and has a personality. He was my last signing at Juventus, he has all the prerequisites to reach the first team.”