The manager of the technical area of Bologna recounted his career in a long interview with Corriere dello Sport. also revealing the background of the transfer market: “At Atalanta I had signed Drogba, he jumped for a trifle …”
Thirty-year career marked by miracles and bets: Giovanni Sartori, one of the architects of Chievo promoted to Serie A who reached two UEFA Cups e i preliminary in Championstoday is at Bologna, surprise of the current Serie A. The former Sampdoria striker, 66 years old and in his thirty-first year as a manager, had the opportunity to reflect on his career during an interview with Corriere dello Sport. Today it describes “late, unintuitive”, but the results obtained between Verona and Bergamo and those that are arriving in Bologna are the demonstration of how effective his reasoned and considered style is.
The dream market
He has always had an eye for champions: betting Amauri and Barzagli and the trust given to Perrotta and Bierhoff they helped build his miraculous Chievo but, sometimes, wishes remain the same. Hojlund, Thiaw, Daniliuc, Doig, Dia e Schuurs are some of the players that Sartori had followed and reported, without however being able to close them: “They were impregnable. What I was practically done with both the club and the player is Balerdi of Marseille. At the last moment a defender was injured and OM blocked the transfer – he says – but me and the club we are satisfied with what we have.” However, it is not always possible to remain satisfied with one’s market: this is the case with Drogba which, according to Sartori, it was betrothed to the Goddess: “We had already taken it. He jumped for a trifle. Now I don’t remember how much we would have paid for it, I don’t want to strain my memory too much.”
Trust the coaches
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In Sartori’s career, the relationship with the coaches was a fundamental aspect that also brought great results: the participation in the UEFA Cup with Delneri’s Chievo and the three participations in the Champions League with Gasperini’s Atalanta give Bolognese fans hope already this season they see the Europe area nearby: “Thiago Motta intrigued me a lot. I followed him to Spezia because we had three Atalanta players there. I was impressed by the football he did, courageous, purposeful. Thiago is a hard worker and a great communicator, very direct and decisive with the team, he gets right to the boys. I can tell that he has improved my thinking.”
His Chievo
He had an intuition about him Louis Campedelli, father of Luca and president of Chievo until 1992: “He told me: ‘You have to stop playing. You have to be a coach and help Bui’. I remember thinking o he considers me a pippa or glimpses in me something that I myself cannot locate.” Sartori recounts, recalling his early transition from the field to the bench. Thanks to him, Chievo moves up the category and the former president always advises him to become sporting director: “I begin in September 1992 and a few days later, on the 15th, Luigi Campedelli dies. I panic. Luca takes over, twenty-four years old, he decides to continue on his father’s path. Very young him, young me and young Malesani, extraordinary Alberto.” Chievo grows and Sartori grows with him, and the relationship with the club is in the sign of love: “For Chievo I had given up important proposals also from top tier clubs ready to guarantee four times what I was getting. For years she had decided the heart, then I accepted Atalanta’s offer.”