Gianluca Nani, who now works as a sporting director for both Watford and Udinese, has this morning been presenting himself and new recruits for the Serie A club.
Kosta Unjaic is arriving as coach and Gökhan Inler will be ‘Technical Area Manager’.
Nani has of course worked with the Pozzo family for years, given his role at Watford, but he still sounded thrilled to be entrusted to do the same with Udinese.
Gianluca Di Marzio’s website quotes him as saying: “I thank the Pozzo family for their trust. It is a privilege to work for them. The club is extremely well prepared and known internationally, especially for its excellent scouting sector.
“Udinese’s distinctive brand is the research and development of talent. We will look for promising young people all over the world, bringing them to Italy to cultivate their skills. This will be our operational base. Udinese is a model admired abroad, and the real challenge is not to find the players, but to develop them after signing. We will strive to replicate the results achieved over the last thirty years.”
Whether there’s anything for Watford fans to read into in that is unclear, but Nani’s further comments on transfer plans could suggest what the Pozzo family is aiming for this summer with both their clubs.
“We always try to improve the squad at our disposal without revolutionising it, intervening only in the roles we consider sensitive. Like every year, some players will leave us and others will arrive, but always maintaining Udinese’s core business.”
General director of the Pozzo family’s football interests, Franco Collavino, brought Watford into the conversation.
He’s quoted by TuttoUdinese as saying the following about Nani’s new appointment: “His role will follow a group strategy between Udinese and Watford. With the means of modern football we must reflect on several aspects of reference in the market of the two clubs.”
It doesn’t really take any reading between the lines to see that greater transfer collaboration between the two clubs is on the cards.
Whether that means signing players on a group basis and then deciding where they go, or loans between the pair, remains to be seen.
