Como sporting director Carlalberto Ludi has revealed the intricate process behind the club’s acquisition of Senegalese winger Assane Diao from Real Betis.
Diao’s move to the Serie A club, which cost €11 million plus a 20% resale clause, was the result of months of meticulous scouting and negotiations.
Speaking to Calciomercato, Ludi shed light on the journey that brought the promising talent to Italy.
Identifying the Target
Ludi explained that the club’s initial interest in Diao stemmed from their data analysis department, which highlighted the winger’s statistical potential.
“We started from the data to see numbers and statistics, the key is to be able to read them according to the type of player we need.
Then there was the scouting work to get an opinion from the player in relation to the processing of the data,” Ludi said.
Despite Diao’s limited playing time in Spain, Como were convinced of his abilities. “Many thought we were crazy because he was a player who had no continuity in Spain, but we all agreed on the operation,” he added.
Long-Term Scouting
The pursuit of Diao began well before the January transfer window, with Como’s scouting department monitoring the player for months.
“Fortunately, we have a scouting department that operates 12 months a year and monitors the most interesting players for our game model; then, when we are close to the market, we understand how to operate.
We have known Diao for some time, at the end of December we started to test the waters,” Ludi revealed.
Challenging Negotiations
Negotiations with Real Betis proved to be a complex affair. The Spanish club was initially reluctant to part ways with the talented winger.
“It was less simple than that for Nico Paz, because negotiating with Betis Sevilla was not easy: at first they did not want to sell him, we had trouble finding the conditions and the door opened and
