During his seven years at the club, former Juventus Chief of Scout Matteo Tognozzi poached some of the best talents in the world.
The Italian left the club in August to assume the role of sporting director at La Liga club Granada.
In a new interview, Tognozzi opens up on some of the most famous coups at Juventus, and chief among them is Kenan Yildiz.
The 18-year-old joined the Bianconeri in the summer of 2o22 after spending 10 years at Bayern Munich.
The sensational Turk has already become a member of Max Allegri’s first team and has recently raised eyebrows for his performances with the senior Turkish national team.
But as Tognozzi explains, Juventus had to be extremely careful while snatching the services of the young striker.
As the ex-Bianconeri scout reveals, then-Bayern Munich director Hasan Salihamidzic was in Turin to close the deal for Matthijs de Ligt.
So in order to avoid a last-minute collapse, Juventus had to work in silence on signing Yildiz, and they were all too happy to make Bayern believe that the youngster was instead heading to Barcelona.
“We took Kenan away from Bayern Munich in the days when their sporting director Salihamidzic was in Turin to close the de Ligt operation,” explains Tognozzi in his interview with Tuttosport via JuventusNews24.
“So perhaps we risked ruining the deal. We feared that the operation could have repercussions on the defender’s sale for over 80 million.”
“But luckily, there were rumors that the young Turk himself was going to sign for Barcelona and we let everyone believe it for a while.”
