Porto scout chief: Rivals paid less for Froholdt, Pietuszewski but face bigger costs | OneFootball

Several acquisitions at this time: “The club understood that there was a need to change things, but it's a long process when we cannot risk making large investments and losing money. When we started analyzing players, we didn't know who the coach would be, so we always have to try to find quality players. Some adapt to one system and not to another, but that happens in any club. Today we work very closely with the main technical team. It's an integrated project, where we have identified many profiles by position, which we try to balance according to our needs.”

Acquisition of Oskar Pietuszewski: “We looked at several players before reaching him. Moreover, the president always ends up giving us great help with the knowledge he has. It was an interesting option in terms of sports performance and the financial return it could bring us. First, it is important to know Mister Faríoli well and have a more informed idea about how he thinks about the game, and this helps to understand what type of players can fit into that system. Oskar had several qualities: he was young, an under-21 international for Poland, very mature, with many technical and physical qualities of a modern player. Goal-scoring ability, the ability to dribble in progression and beat defenders are characteristics that can adapt to a supported game or transitions.”

Reinforcement Froholdt: “He came to us through many games, we analyzed the data and realized he was a fundamental player. We went to see the kid, our “chief scout” saw him several times, and the curiosity was the mentality he showed to be able to play at this level. He arrived in a completely different country, with completely different temperatures, without speaking the language, and imposed himself as the best player in the league in the first few months. It can only reveal a great mentality. How was this factor analyzed? When our “chief scout” saw the player in three different positions and performing in all of them, then, by the way, his teammates spoke to a 19-year-old kid and the respect with which they gave him the ball. We analyzed his mentality before hiring him.”

Are there more Polish and Scandinavian talents to explore? “Yes, there is more Scandinavian and Polish talent to be explored, as in other markets. There are markets in Europe that we analyze more carefully, due to the possibilities of having players more easily, who are working well. We always have scouts traveling and following referenced players. We have already observed in various conditions, playing at home, away, against strong teams, and we make performance analyses at a physical level and make comparisons based on the levels where they play thanks to the investment that FC Porto made in human resources.”

Pietuszewski cost eight million euros and Froholdt twenty million… “It's true. We might think it's a lot of money, but in reality, it's relative. Why? Any player that is brought in, at any club, you never know if it will be a cost or an investment. We can know all the facets of a player, but we never know how the adaptation process to a new league will be. We might think that Froholdt was indeed a big cost. But maybe it was a great investment. The other day I saw a criticism about the amount we paid for Pietuszewski and I ended up comparing the value of the players that some rival clubs paid. Maybe they even paid a little less, but they are having a much higher cost because the performance has not been good. The job of scouting is to minimize the risk of any investment.”

Bednarek and Kiwior coming from the Premier League: “We know there are markets that are difficult, which doesn't mean they are impossible. We analyzed the market and understood if the players were playing, if they were at the end of their contract, we talked to the agents to better understand the situation to then convince them to come. But the merit of being able to hire two players from the Premier League, one of them with many games for Arsenal, is all due to the Management. Initially, it was difficult, but we knew that at the sporting level they were players capable of giving an immediate response. Bringing these players was an enormous financial effort.”

Moffi, Fofana, and Pablo Rosario have already collaborated with Farioli: “Any coach likes to work with players who have given him guarantees and comfort on previous occasions. In the case of Moffi and Fofana, they were situations that came to address problems we had, unfortunately, and to bring some balance to the squad. The coach has the legitimacy to indicate players and they really have the profile and quality to play for FC Porto. We gathered our information, which we passed on to the Management, and then they decided. But there are always several factors to consider, the opportunity, and many other situations. There is no imposition of the name, but an indication that is always welcome. Players are analyzed by several scouts, who must have independent thinking to give an opinion, in fact, it is the opinions of several people together that lead us to form the filters. By indicating a player, the coach has the advantage of knowing whether he will adapt or not because he worked with him. Pablo Rosario is a success story, it is another indication that was welcome, he plays in any position, if you put him in goal I think he will also perform. But we have others who, even though they haven't given as much playing time, doesn't mean they have less value, they have performed very well and came to address specific situations. Some allow others to rest and, if they weren't there, no one would be able to perform continuously at the same level.”

Thiago Silva presents a distinct profile, closer to the end of his career: “There are situations in the market that force us to make certain investments. In Thiago's case, we had Nehuén Pérez's injury, we were a bit limited in terms of central defenders and we needed a player. We turned to Thiago, who is one of the best central defenders in the world and was coming off a season playing a lot. With the quality he has, he could help us, it wasn't even a question of thinking twice. The persuasion power of the Management was important and brought maturity to a young squad.”

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