In an exclusive interview, Udinese sporting director Gianluca Nani spoke to Flashscore about working with numerous icons during his time at Brescia, how his current club develops top talents, and more.
You were the one who found Andrea Pirlo and created a very interesting team in Brescia back in the day...
"Oh, yes. That is exactly where everything started. At that time, we had Pirlo, (Roberto) Baggio, (Pep) Guardiola, Luca Toni, Igli Tare, (Daniele) Bonera, and many others in the same team. We also had a very young player coming from Slovakia: Marek Hamsik. We did a great job at that time, and I really enjoyed it."
Do you remember the story behind Hamsik's arrival at Brescia?
"Yes. We were watching a youngsters' tournament, and he was playing with the second team of his club.
"I always say that discovering a great player isn't about being the only one who can see the talent - when a player is special, everybody can see it. It is about arriving before the others. That is the key. That is how the scouting systems at Udinese and Watford operate: organising our trips to arrive first. That happened with Marek, and it happens with the players coming here now through the scouting system of the Pozzo family."
With players like Hamsik or Pirlo, is it love at first sight, where you just know something special is there?
"No, no. Sometimes you go to watch a player because someone in your scouting network calls you.
"You have to understand that before, scouting was completely different. Now you have applications like Wyscout; everyone can watch everyone from any angle in the world. Before, you had to research and travel. When you aren't working with a club that can spend a huge amount of money, you have to be creative. All the top clubs watch the Under-17 or Under-19 international tournaments and World Cups. To compete, your selection of tournaments and your way of scouting has to be different."
Speaking of clubs with smaller resources, how did you manage to convince Baggio and Guardiola to join Brescia?
"With Baggio, we were lucky. He wanted to come to us to finish his career near his home in Vicenza, and Brescia was in Serie A when Vicenza was not.
"Once we signed Roberto, everything became easier. Even the signing of Pep Guardiola. When you have two of the top players in the world - even if they were senior players at the time - it's easy to convince the others. They were big champions off the pitch, too. I remember Pep Guardiola driving to pick up academy players to bring them to training. Can you imagine? Imagine being an 11-year-old kid in a car with the former captain of Barcelona! What a character!
"It is the same here in Udine. Many great players have come through Udinese: Alexis Sanchez, (Marcio) Amoroso, (Samir) Handanovic. In January, we signed two very talented young players, Juan Arizala and Branimir Mlacic. Both were in touch with the top clubs.
"We can't compete by offering more money, but young players know that at Udinese or Watford, they have a real chance to play. We find talent, improve their quality, and then they often move on to the giants. Work for both sides."
Is scouting more of an office job nowadays, or do you still watch live games of youth teams?
"When you watch live, you see the personality, you see more. You can see quality on video, but you travel to meet the player to understand their behaviour and character. Personality and mentality are sometimes more important than technical quality."
Do you have an example of a player whose technical quality maybe wasn't the highest at first, but whose character was so strong they made it to the top?
"One is Hamsik. Absolutely. When he was 15, his mentality was like that of a 30-year-old. Another is already mentioned, Mlacic, whom we just signed. He is 18, but his mentality is that of a man. The way he looks you in the eye and the questions he asks - you understand he has the X factor.
"I’ve also had the opposite happen: I’ve invited a player to the club and then decided not to sign them because of their behaviour or how they interacted with others."
Signing them is one thing, but developing them is another. What is the secret at Udinese for developing players so well and then selling them to bigger clubs?
"I always tell my staff that our job starts the moment we sign the player. Everyone thinks the hard part is over once the deal is done, but that is when the management and development actually begin.
"When you don't have a giant budget, every player has to become a player. Every penny counts. You cannot make mistakes. Udinese is heading toward its 32nd consecutive year in Serie A. Only a few other teams have done that, and we are competing with giants. We have to take care of every single detail."
What is your selling point when talking to a player in comparison to giants like Inter or AC Milan?
"The pitch and our history.
"If you look at the list of players who have come through us, it’s easy to present the project. Take Nicolo Zaniolo, for example. He has played for Galatasaray, Roma, Atalanta, Aston Villa. He went public and said that at Udinese, everyone puts you in a position to perform at your best.
"We are a small town of 100,000 people competing with cities of five million. Our quality is organisation: training, food, and injury prevention. For us, an injured player counts for a lot because we don't have a massive squad."
You are part of the top football world for thirty years. Do you rely on modern deep analytics and statistics, or do you still focus on instinct?
"We take care of the stats, but we also have people like Mr Pozzo, Andrea Carnevale, and myself who have been doing this for 30 years, as you mentioned. We have the expertise.
"We use stats to create a physical "avatar" for every position - we look for specific abilities. But there are things you just can't check from stats. Marek Hamsik’s stats at 15 were non-existent because he wasn't playing much yet! That is where the instinct of the scout comes in."
How many scouts do you have on the ground worldwide?
"It’s not about how many you have, but how good they are. I prefer to work with a small number. We share information between the two clubs (Udinese and Watford). Sometimes a player has characteristics that work better for English football than European football, and vice versa. We have a small, elite group that takes care of everything."
When we briefly talked before this interview, you mentioned that the synergy between Udinese and Watford is a big opportunity. Why?
"It is a 100% opportunity for both. A player like Keinan Davis didn't work super well at Watford, but here he is performing fantastically. Conversely, we have players like Mamadou Doumbia or Edoardo Bove who performed better in the English environment. It’s a cooperation that allows players to develop in the place that suits them best."
Is there a player you are particularly proud of discovering or developing?
"I am proud of all of them. Whether it’s discovering Hamsik at 15 or seeing Zaniolo perform well here and tell us, "You are giving me my life back." I work with a staff of people who are much better than me. A good staff is more important than an individual."
Last question, and with this one, we are going back to the beginning. Since you knew Pep Guardiola as a player, was it obvious then that he would become a successful coach?
"Absolutely. I remember when he was in Brescia, he already thought differently. He was an incredibly intelligent person. You could see it in the way he played: before he even received the ball, he already knew where the next pass was going. He used to be a few steps ahead. I was sure he would become a coach. Not necessarily the number one in the world, but definitely a coach.
"Also, I had another player who became a great coach: Roberto De Zerbi. I’ll be honest, De Zerbi played like a number 10, like Baggio. Those players usually just wanted the ball so they could resolve the game themselves. Guardiola was different; he was in the middle, seeing everything."
Do you think it's a coincidence that many of the best coaches were central midfielders and playmakers?
"No, it is not a coincidence, but I do not think it is a general rule. It depends on the person's brain. Dino Zoff was a goalkeeper; Johan Cruyff was a number 10. But when you are a centre midfielder, you are always in the middle of the play, and that vision certainly helps."