While it is not widely known, each club tackles scouting differently, and Alessandro Pizzoli, a former Chelsea scout, admits that he did not like the way Newcastle United approached it.
The scout was speaking at the Palermo Football Conference, which TuttoMercatoWeb attended, and he admitted that he was close to working for the Magpies.
He was asked if he had been approached by Newcastle, who have been combing the Italian transfer market more recently, as evidenced by their signing of Sandro Tonali.
Pizzoli explained: “I was approached by Newcastle. I came at one point and was told that they would review the data and notify me which players to see. I’ve been doing this work for 30 years, and I choose which players to monitor. Contextualizing players involves athletic, technical, and tactical considerations.It’s unclear whether a player who performs well in Italy can be regarded a top player in England. When I landed in Chelsea, I extended an offer to Casadei. He was playing in the U17s and would have cost €180,000. He wasn’t performing well there, so they bought him for €20 million. “There is a different mentality.”
Prior to being approached by Newcastle, the 53-year-old held a variety of positions, including sporting director at Bogliasco, head of scouting at Palermo and Pro Piacenza, before spending three years in the Premier League with Chelsea.
He then left that post in 2022 to become Chief Scout at SPAL, where he still works today.
However, one thing is certain: he does not appreciate Newcastle’s approach to the scouting market.
