SOCCER. At the New Balance Arena, the press conference presenting the new Nerazzurri sporting director, his words about the squad and the market.
Read more Amighetti hits the three-pointer at the Europeans
Reading 2 min.Presentation day at Atalanta. At the press conference, from the New Balance Arena, speaks the new sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli, accompanied by CEO Luca Percassi.
Luca Percassi’s words
«A warm welcome to Cristiano as the new sporting director, from the entire club and ownership a thank you for choosing our project. I also thank him because in a month and a half he has already revolutionized many things, with great dedication and professionalism, bringing new high-level figures into the club, with tremendous energy. As his career shows, he has won all professional categories, dedication, skills, and insights have brought him to the highest levels, we have great confidence in his human and professional qualities, he best represents the Atalanta style».
Giuntoli, why he chose Atalanta
«I am very happy, proud and honored to be here – said Cristiano Giuntoli-. I thank Luca, for whom I have great esteem for everything he has done with Atalanta, one of the greatest managers in Italian football. That’s why I accepted after a second. I thank Antonio Percassi and Stephen Pagliuca for welcoming me like a son. Atalanta, looking at it from the outside, can only make you fall in love, if we think about Antonio Percassi’s story. Raised in the youth sector, became a player and then president. He is the first fan, this transmits energy, it has been seen over the years with what has been built. With a youth sector full of gems. It is a great pride to represent this club, I see myself in my story: results combined with sustainability. Who better than the Percassi family has always invested the surpluses between expenses and revenues. It’s nice to be able to talk about football with those who really understand it».
Giuntoli on prospects and Sarri
«We want to find a strong identity again and we believe we have chosen a coach who can represent a clear and definite path, this was asked of me – Giuntoli continued -. Atalanta has never declared objectives, but with great humility has often done extraordinary things. We must continue to follow that path. We are surprised but also happy about Ederson. I chased him for years, having him is a good thing. We are confident we can continue together, the player is happy about this».
Read more Atalanta, the Bortolotti Trophy with Athletic Bilbao
The point on the squad and the market
«We believe it is strong, numerically and qualitatively. We are convinced that in the club, not only in the first team, there are many very good players. For this reason, we are very confident. We are happy with the purchase of Gaetano, whom I saw grow at Napoli. We believe he has great potential. We also believe the squad is in good shape, keeping our eyes open in case of opportunities»
On Scamacca, De Ketelaere and Carnesecchi
«We are aware of having a strong team. We believe in these players as well as in Scalvini, Raspadori and all the players who are part of the squad. The coach will tell you too, we came with the awareness that the team is strong and we do not want to touch the squad». On Alajbegovic: «There are many opportunities, sometimes there are, sometimes less, but now we are evaluating the players we have. We are not thinking much about the market».
«Carnesecchi will stay with us, he is our goalkeeper, he will stay with us. We want to continue with this group and adapt it to a new way of playing football».
On Palestra
«An open negotiation, everyone was aware of everything. The player then went to Chelsea and we are proud that a player from our youth sector went to such a club. We have always been correct».
