exclusive
Marco Busiello is told to the microphones of ‘Tuttomercatoweb.com’. Agent, intermediary, executive director of Firs1, he has been collaborating for years with Juanma Lopez and Andy Bara’s Niagara Sports and with them – in addition to managing Dani Olmo, Lovro Majer and Kristijan Jakic – in recent years he has concluded various operations such as Ikoné at Fiorentina and Bakayoko to Milan. Then in recent times the collaboration with Claudio Vigorelli was born, fundamental for Gnonto’s transfer to Leeds and also important for exploring new possibilities for Nicolò Zaniolo. Many topics covered, including the future of that Diego Demme who wants to play more and maybe he will do it as early as January. But let’s start with Olmo, star of Spain and Red Bull Leipzig: “Dani Olmo exalts himself in these contexts. It’s his third important competition, he played the Under 21 European Championship in Italy, which he won and played as a protagonist. Then a year and a half ago the European Championship with Spain, a fantastic competition in which, however, he missed the decisive penalty against Italy. And finally this World Cup, as a protagonist as long as Spain remained in the running…”
Luis Enrique really appreciated his attachment to this national team
“He cares a lot about it. It’s the same for everyone, God forbid, but especially for him. He left Spain at the age of 16 and when he comes back to play for Roja he always cares a lot about showing his people his level. He’s in the best moment. He’s 24 years old, he’s also matured from a physical point of view and already has important international experience.”
Barcelona tried to sign him in the summer of 2021 to replace Messi. Could next summer be the right one to return to Spain?
“He’s doing well in Leipzig, he’s already in a huge club. Maybe he’s not considered as such because he doesn’t have the coat of arms of the historic clubs, but look at the squad: there’s Olmo, there’s Nkunku, there’s Gvardiol. All players really important and very young too”.
Other protagonists of the World Cup, in Croatia there are ‘your’ Jakic and Majer
“The former was only part of the squad, while Majer, despite not playing as a starter, has highlighted his qualities. Lovro is destined to take on Modric’s legacy and in France, with the Rennes shirt, he’s doing very well. I I think he is now ready for a further leap in quality”.
Already in January?
“Theoretically not, because clubs hardly do without such important players in January. But then the transfer market is unpredictable: a year ago Juventus bought Vlahovic for 70 million euros, who would have thought that?”
Juve has followed him for a long time in recent months
“He has many admirers in Italy but he’s not for everyone, he’s a player of great value. I don’t think Rennes will accept offers of less than 35-40 million euros: several calls also came from England, we’ll see. For the his style of play Liga and Bundesliga are probably the ideal leagues to take a further leap forward.”
How did the collaboration between FIRS1 and Claudio Vigorelli’s VIGO SPORTS come about?
“We have known each other for many years with Claudio, we had already worked together for some time. It was born with the sharing of ideas. In this world that is modernizing and globalizing there is an ever greater need to stay together. To be stronger in order to be able to offer better services to the players. There isn’t a real why, but it comes from many small collaborations and many things done together”.
In the summer you teamed up to bring Gnonto to Leeds
“It was an operation born and carried out together. And that made everyone happy: Leeds because they had the opportunity to buy their first Italian player, the boy was happy because he made the leap in quality and also Zurich, capable of monetize one year after the expiry of the contract”.
Will a transfer abroad also be possible for Zaniolo?
“They are two different realities. Gnonto was unknown to everyone until Mancini called him up for the national team to turn the page after failing to qualify for the World Cup. Zaniolo is now established nationally and internationally, he hasn’t yet expressed his full potential. But these things are coming. Claudio is doing extraordinary things with him and the same boy is maturing today.”
Have offers arrived from abroad?
“He’s a very important player. At Italian level, he’s one of the players who expresses the highest quality both technically and physically, he has a lot of attention around him. Having said that, he’s a player from Roma, which is a huge club and everything will be evaluated in due course.” “.
Diego Demme’s situation is very different
“Diego is an excellent player, he’s always played and he’s a splendid boy. Like all players, he wants to play more, but which player doesn’t want to play more? Anyone who doesn’t have this desire is better off doing something else. It’s not just an economic matter. Napoli are a perfect machine at the moment, at least that was the case until the break and it is natural that there is no room for him. There are balances and a very clear situation”.
Is there a club ahead of the others in Italy?
“There are many clubs also interested abroad. Precisely because of the type of role: he is a central midfielder but in the midfield he can cover all three positions. He is short-lived and gets in shape fairly quickly. He is a player who catches important attentions”.
What are the conditions for taking him away from Naples?
“But no, there are no conditions. Napoli are delighted with him and they’ve always told us that they are happy to keep him. Then it’s obvious that they know him and if important offers arrive, they will be taken into consideration. He has always done good for Napoli but clearly he’d like to play more.”
Bakayoko’s situation is even more delicate: today he is totally out of the Milan project
“It’s a situation that makes me sad because a year and a half ago this transfer was strongly desired. In recent years he has always traveled on loan, every year he had to change, settle in a new reality, bring his family to a new city. Returning to Milan with a two-year loan with a right to purchase that became an obligation under certain conditions made him happy. It seemed that we had reached the end of this situation. But either due to the explosion of some players, or due to the injury he just entered the field last year, either due to situations that got a little twisted, the second adventure at Milan didn’t work. The current status quo doesn’t do anyone any good, I’m very sorry.”
What future for him?
“We’ll see, we’ll calmly evaluate the opportunities with Milan. He has another year of contract with Chelsea after the current one. We’ll look around together.”
The one who has finally made a breakthrough is Ikoné. He dragged Fiorentina in the weeks leading up to the break
“Ikoné needed a few months of acclimatization last year, to understand Italiano and the game of Italiano. He’s expressing his skills, he’s demonstrating why Fiorentina made this investment. He doesn’t come from nowhere: in the youth team he played together with Mbappé and he was the strong one…”
What path will there be for Missori and Daniel Hysaj?
“They are young guys, they have to go their own way. You can’t rush things. But with extreme serenity they will have to carry on their paths with Rome and Naples respectively. Like Gabriele Artistico in Gubbio: he started off very well, then had a injury and is now in a rehabilitation phase to be available again in January.”
