Former Manchester City scout Aldo Pecini remembered when the Citizens signed Jerome Boateng during Roberto Mancini’s time at the club, a year before his career-defining move to Bayern Munich.
The Sky blues paid £10.4m for the German defender in June 2010, believing him to be the perfect addition to Mancini’s squad in the North West of England. He struggled to make a strong impression during his single season in the Premier League and it was no surprise he chose to return to Germany the following summer.
Speaking in today’s paper edition of Tuttosport, Pecini reflected upon City’s initial interest in Boateng and Mancini’s desire to work with the German defender.
“I had the pleasure and luck to experience the Premier League. Roberto Mancini wanted me as a scout for Manchester City. Mancio was a champion, but he is also a coach with an extraordinary sensitivity for talent.
“After signing for City just before Christmas 2009, Mancini told me that he needed a young defender. Knowing his taste, I immediately thought of a 21-year-old I had seen a few weeks earlier: Jerome Boateng.
“At the time he was playing for Hamburg and had an affordable release clause. What impressed me about the German was the precision and cleanliness with which he passed vertically, 30-40 metre balls.
“Not to mention that physically he was already more or less like he is now. So I immediately pointed Boateng out to Mancio. In January 2010, a few days after the meeting with Mancini, I saw Hamburg v Wolfsburg on television. Boateng was being used as a right-back, not as a central defender.
“I sent a message to Roberto to inform him. Mancio replied immediately: ‘I’m at the Hamburg stadium. I’m watching Boateng and at the end of the game I’m going to talk to him’. The conversation went well and the German moved to England the following summer.
“Unfortunately, he only stayed for one season, in 2010-11. Boateng wanted to leave the Premier League to return to the Bundesliga, where he had an offer from Bayern. In his ten years in Bavaria he went on to win everything, including the 2014 World Cup with Germany.”
Boateng left City and went on to become one of the best defenders in the World, winning nine league titles with Bayern Munich, as well as two Champions League titles, five DFB-Pokal and two FIFA Club World Cups.
Mancini had a successful four years with the Sky Blues, winning the Premier League, the FA Cup and the FA Community Shield.
La prima pagina di Tuttosport:
🦈 Juve Raspadori, Milan Berardi
🦈 Che eurodea!
🦈 Oliveira, colpo roma#tuttosport #juve #raspadori #milan #berardi #atalanta #roma #oliveira pic.twitter.com/1typHAdpta— Tuttosport (@tuttosport) March 11, 2022