Colotto on Colón signings: “Outsiders don't know the inside story” | OneFootball

In an extensive interview on the program ADN on Radio Gol 96.7, Colón’s Sporting Director, DiegoColotto, took an in-depth look at the behind-the-scenes work of the Sabalero club’s sporting management. In a detailed breakdown, the manager focused on how the transfer market is handled, the selection criteria, budget planning, and the shift in direction following Iván Delfino’s arrival on the bench.

Below are the most important revelations the manager made about squad building and the winter transfer market:

1. The scouting method: A strict, in-house filter

Colotto demystified the role of the flood of offers that reach the club during every break, stating that they prefer to do their own scouting after saying that “what you go out and look for yourself has a higher success rate than what is offered to you.” In that regard, the manager argued that outside proposals often miss the mark because “someone offering you a player does so because they think it’s a good option from the outside, but they don’t know a lot of the internal situations we are looking for in each case.” For that reason, the Technical Secretariat works year-round observing and analyzing players in order to build a pool of options for each position.

2. The scouting network and the focus on the lower divisions

When asked whether Colón should draw players from lower categories such as the Federal A or the Primera B Metropolitana, the manager was cautious because of the pressure factor in Santa Fe. The former footballer warned that “there are players who come to Colón and feel the pressure,” so he clarified that “in a squad of 25 you can bring in one or two, but not build it around that, at least not in that proportion, especially at clubs this big.” Even so, he revealed that together with his scouting team—led by Lautaro and three other staff members—they closely follow the B Metro, acknowledging that “we watch B Metro; there are young players we’ve analyzed, and there are teams that play well, like Comunicaciones and Excursionistas.”

3. Three-way consensus and dialogue with agents

When it comes to moving forward on a signing, the manager made it clear that there are no unilateral decisions or impositions, explaining that “sporting decisions are made by consensus” and that in order to sign or not sign someone, “all sides have to agree—in this case, the coach, the sporting department, and the board.” He also highlighted his open-door policy with people in the football world by stating that “in that area I meet with all agents and, as we said before, with people too; I work for Colón,” concluding respectfully that “even if they offer me Haaland and I don’t have the money, I still have to hear them out.”

4. The winter transfer window: “Players out so we can bring players in”

Regarding the latest transfer window, Colotto referred to the financial engineering they had to apply, tied to budget limitations. The manager confirmed that the main premise agreed upon with the board was to ease the wage bill, noting that “the premise was to move players out so we could bring players in… I’m talking about a budget issue,” which resulted in a balanced window where “we let three players go and brought in three players, so in that sense it was similar.” In this process, they strategically planned the arrival of a player for the left flank in order to free up an extra slot in a later departure.

5. The failed negotiations: Why the fourth slot was not used

Colón ended the transfer window having used three of the four slots allowed. The Sporting Director revealed that Iván Delfino’s arrival changed the profile of the search toward a full demand for top quality, admitting that “with Iván, one specific thing was decided: either we brought in a player with the quality we were looking for, or no one at all.” In that regard, he confessed that they had identified two names, both First Division players—one currently a starter and the other getting minutes—and that “we tried until the very end,” but they could not move forward because of football’s own dynamics.

Lastly, he emphasized how difficult it is to retain players in the second division, explaining that “in the Nacional B, it’s very hard to sign players for two or three years; almost all of them come for one year, and there’s a lot of movement.” Given this scenario, he justified the need to build a mix of experienced players and others who know the division, arguing that “when you go to grounds that are more difficult, if you don’t know them, you suffer.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.