Matteo Tognozzi lost his motivation as Juventus became a magnet for emerging talent. So after a six-year stint, he switched to Spanish side Granada in November 2023.
Having left his role as sporting director with the La Liga club in February, Tognozzi is available for a new challenge with Juventus, which could be an ideal marriage as the club strives to return to their former glory days.
Ponetedera and Rosignano
Having been a football flop on the pitch, Tognozzi kicked off his soccer career with back-to-back sporting director roles at relative minnows in Italy with Pontedera and then Rosignano.
He took a massive step up to become a scout with Russian giants Zenit St-Petersburg for three years, before moving to the German Bundesliga with Hamburger SV for a season and Bayer Leverkusen for two years.
His journey at Juventus kicked off in July 2017 as foreign countries scouting supervisor. Tognozzi’s talents and experience resulted in promotion to scouting manager, before he was appointed as head of scouting.
Bellingham and Haaland
Although he secured Vlahovic, Weah and Yildiz in Juve’s current regular starting line-up, two big names that Tognozzi came close to luring to Turin were Jude Bellingham and Erling Haaland who are now global superstars.
During his highly successful spell at Juventus, Tognozzi unearthed a plethora of talents from Europe, Italy and South America.
The 37-year-old is now searching for himself rather than individual players, with his focus on finding a suitable fit for a long-term winning future.
Juventus, who are going through a revamp under sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli, could well be Tognozzi’s next stop as he is highly regarded by the club hierarchy for his impressive achievements.
Giuntoli allowed Thiago Motta too much freedom, with the three-year plan of Project Motta coming crashing down after nine months. Giuntoli is after a safe pair of hands off the pitch.
He is also under scrutiny for allowing the cash to be splashed on players who were effectively misfits at their previous clubs, so Tognozzi could steer Giuntoli away from further mistakes.