Torino shake-up: Cairo sacks Vagnati, Petrachi returns, flops costly | OneFootball

Drastic turn of events at Torino: President Urbano Cairo has decided to relieve sporting director Davide Vagnati of his duties, once again entrusting the position to a familiar and historic face of the club, Gianluca Petrachi. This move marks a return to the past in an attempt to straighten out a currently challenging sports situation.

Torino, the treasure trove isn't enough: Ricci and Vanja's millions don't save Vagnati, fatal errors in acquisitions

The analysis by Tuttomercatoweb.com highlights the paradox of Vagnati's management, capable of balancing the books but not strengthening the squad. From a purely economic standpoint, the last summer market was impeccable: the balance ended significantly positive thanks to two high-profile sales. Goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic moved to Napoli for over 21 million euros, while midfield gem Samuele Ricci flew to Milan for about 25 million, generating a substantial profit compared to the 10 million spent to acquire him from Empoli in 2022.

However, football is not played with balance sheets, but with players. And it is precisely the wrong acquisitions that marked the end of Vagnati's adventure. Reviewing the list of new arrivals, the performance has been lacking so far. The finger is particularly pointed at the most costly investment: the 8 million spent on Zakaria Aboukhlal, a right winger who arrived from Toulouse with high expectations but never managed to establish himself as a starter. The same goes for Cyril Ngonge, who arrived on loan with the aim of making a significant impact in matches but instead ended up on the fringes. The failure of the incoming market had heavy tactical repercussions. The lack of reliable and quality offensive wingers forced coach Baroni to abandon his tactical creed: the initial trademark offensive trident was shelved as early as October in favor of a more defensive 3-5-2. A forced change of course that certified the inadequacy of the squad built in the summer and pushed Cairo to the managerial shake-up.

Andrea Alati

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