A key figure in the Chievo Verona miracle of the early 2000s was sporting director Giovanni Sartori, who almost managed to bring Didier Drogba to the home of Romeo and Juliet.
The ‘flying donkeys’ made history in the late 1990s and early 2000s after rising up the lower divisions to reach Serie A for the first time in their long history.
They were expected to immediately drop down to Serie B after their promotion but managed to shock many by surviving in the topflight for five seasons.
In 2002, remembers Calciomercato.com’s Francesco Guerrieri, Chievo sporting director Sartori took note of a promising but relatively unknown Ivorian striker playing at Guingamp, Didier Drogba.
The then-24-year-old had only managed three goals in 11 Ligue 1 matches at that point, but Sartori was convinced about his potential.
The Chievo sporting director twice went to France to personally watch Drogba and spoke to club president Luca Campedelli before contacting Guingamp, asking after the Ivorian and his price tag.
The Ligue 1 side wanted at least €1m for Drogba. Sartori returned to Campedelli and attempted to convince him to invest, but the figures were too high at the time for Chievo, and they missed out on the deal.
A year later, Olympique Marseille emerged and paid £3.3m for the Ivorian striker, who shined for the club for a single year before leaving to start his story with Chelsea.