The Portuguese coach also discusses his success at Bournemouth, the Premier League’s top=selling club.
Tiago Pinto’s work at Bournemouth caught the attention of the newspaper Marca, which nicknamed the Portuguese manager the “new King Midas of football.
The Spanish newspaper, in its Friday edition, highlights Tiago Pinto’s career path, from Benfica, through Roma, to the Premier League. I received offers from big clubs in other countries, but my priority was to work in the Premier League.
Tiago Pinto considers Benfica to have been “the most difficult challenge” he has ever faced, because he felt “a lot of pressure” as he was also a fan. After working at Benfica, he worked with José Mourinho in Italy and believes that Benfica is in good hands.
“Rome is a very hot city, but it’s difficult to bring everyone together with the same goal, and Mourinho managed to do that. (…) It doesn’t surprise me because I know him and I knew he wanted to coach Benfica again. It seems like a natural situation: the biggest club for the biggest coach,” he noted.
Bournemouth reports a positive balance of 160 million euros between transfer revenues and expenses, and Tiago Pinto, president of football operations at the English club, attributes much of the credit to coach Andoni Iraola.
“I don’t perform magic. I’m a very normal person. (…) You can have a well-structured club, great facilities, good scouts, a great academy… But if you don’t have a coach who brings it all together, it’s worthless. It’s impossible to explain Bournemouth’s success without talking about Iraola. The way we play and how that has developed the players is the key. It’s easy to say that Huijsen is a great player, but it was Andoni who made him play and grow in the Premier League. The same happened with Zabarnyi or Kerkez. Many teams want to convey the message that the club does everything and the coach does nothing. For me, that’s not the case,” he stressed.
Iraola’s contract ends in June and Tiago Pinto is “concerned”.
“I’m more worried about Iraola leaving than about any important player leaving. In February, when the transfer window closes, it will be time to talk. I think in the end everything will turn out well, but I’m not calm: it’s very difficult to find someone like that.”
In the last two seasons, Bournemouth earned €376.5 million in sales. Recently, they transferred Antoine Semenyo to Manchester City for €72 million, a price the Portuguese manager still considers low. It seems too low to me. If he didn’t have a release clause, we could have sold him for more money. He’s a very complete player, with incredible physical capabilities.
We sold well, but not because I’m handsome, but because the team plays well and finished ninth in the Premier League. (…) In the coming years we won’t need to sell as much. The idea is to achieve stability in the Premier League that allows us to dream a little.”
Tiago Pinto admits that he “would be happy if one day he had the opportunity to work in Spain” and also mentions a Spanish client among the deals that he most enjoyed closing.
“It’s very difficult. I get asked that question a lot and I give different answers. People expect me to say Dybala or Lukaku, but, for me, Grimaldo’s renewal, which took me nine months, is one of the most important of my career. He was a free agent and, although he wanted to stay, I think he didn’t feel loved because Benfica, in his early years, didn’t improve his contract. Today he’s a top full=back.
Finally, the former general manager of football also talks about the case of João Félix, whom he sees as a special player, and explains what went wrong in the Portuguese international’s career.
He was very young and perhaps, after a season in Benfica’s first team, he wasn’t ready for a transfer like that. I think, with all due respect to Atlético and the coach, he’s a player who needed to be managed differently. He’s special. People might think he was expensive, but he helped Atleti win a league with important goals. I love him, but changing clubs so often didn’t help him,” he concluded.
Tiago Pinto’s biggest sales at Bournemouth: