Crystal Palace are already putting Alessandro Brito to work after agreeing to bring the former Botafogo recruitment chief to the club.
After reports emerged that Brito is set to become Palace’s new head scout, fresh information from Brazil has revealed how his role will look. Also, the reports revealed the first appointments he is expected to make.
ESPN Brazil journalist Felipe Silva explained that Brito will oversee Crystal Palace’s scouting operations across the United States, Central America and South America.
According to Silva, the Brazilian will not be arriving alone. He is expected to bring two experienced scouts from Brazilian football to work alongside him at Selhurst Park.
Speaking on ESPN, Silva explained:
“Brito is joining Crystal Palace. He’ll sign his contract this week and become the English club’s head scout for the Americas, covering football in the United States, Central America and South America.
“He’ll also bring two professionals from Brazilian clubs to become Crystal Palace employees alongside him. They are Rodrigo Carvalho and Fernando Ziskind, who currently works at Santos. They’ll form part of Alessandro Brito’s team.”
No Botafogo raid
One detail highlighted in Brazil is that Brito will not be taking members of Botafogo’s scouting department with him.
That avoids what could have been an awkward situation given his long spell at the Brazilian club and his close relationships there.
Instead, Crystal Palace are expected to build a fresh scouting structure around Brito using staff from elsewhere in Brazilian football.
Meeting the new staff
Ziskind arrives with a solid background in Brazilian scouting and performance analysis. Santos announced his appointment in 2024 to strengthen their market analysis department.
He was involved in the creation of the club’s information centre, which helped structure their recruitment and player-monitoring work.
Carvalho also brings significant experience in Brazilian talent identification. He previously led Santos’ youth recruitment department. Earlier in his career, he had spells at Athletico Paranaense and as a technical observer for the Brazilian national team.
His work at Santos focused on restructuring academy scouting and improving the club’s process for identifying young players, before he later moved into a head scout role at Vitória.
With this new structure, Palace now appear to be giving Alessandro Brito some responsibility from the outset. He will have oversight of scouting across the Americas and the freedom to assemble his own team.
