Contrary to your first thought Atalanta did not travel to Springfield for its first signing of the summer, but rather two hours east to Verona. And now a terribly kept secret can finally be announced! Tony D’Amico will be Atalanta’s new Sporting Director, a similar role that he held with his previous club for the last three seasons. Since joining Hellas Verona in 2015 as a Head of Scouting, D’Amico quietly ascended the ranks of the Gialloblu to become one of the more respected Sporting Directors in the league. He will have big shoes to fill, with the departed Giovanni Sartori heading to Bologna, but D’Amico’s record the last three seasons has demonstrated he has the chops to succeed in player development in Italy’s top league.
D’Amico’s reign in Verona has been synonymous with both consistency and value – two words that could easily be floated around Bergamo in recent years. Since Verona earned promotion back into Serie A three seasons ago, the Gialloblu’s tenure in the league has been one of overperformance through savvy purchases and a clear team strategy that embodied both the players and the managers of the club. Ivan Juric’s two years with the club saw Verona hassle opponents into mistakes – and a stingy unit led by Amir Rrahmani, Marash Kumbulla, and Davide Faraoni (among others) made every trip to the Bentegodi a nightmare for opposition. However, this past season saw Igor Tudor bring a more attacking recipe to the forefront. And surely enough D’Amico signings Gianluca Caprari, Giovanni Simeone, and Antonin Barak got to put their attacking chops on display.
Even though Igor Tudor will not take the helm at Hellas Verona next year – D’Amico was in lockstep with his coaches the past three years, making the signings and deals needed to ensure that a coaches vision could fully be realized. In the past there was often rumored friction between Gian Piero Gasperini and Sartori. Perhaps D’Amico will be more willing to take a coaches vision and turn it into a masterpiece, rather than trying to put a stranglehold of his vision of sporting success on the club?
At the end of the day, no one can balk at his success. Just look at the success Verona has recently had under D’Amico. He has operated in an Atalanta-lite mold for years, finding value mainly in the corners of Italy – either turning that value into essential starting options, or flipping his players for big pay days.
Both Sofyan Amrabat and Amir Rrahmani were sold for over 20M euros, and this list doesn’t even include the club’s largest ever transfer given Marash Kumbulla and his 29M euro fee came about through Verona’s youth development rather than any wheeling and dealing D’Amico did on the transfer market. Regardless, this list is extremely impressive with nearly all of Verona’s starters coming into the fold thanks to D’Amico. With a bigger budget coming his way in Bergamo, we all should be excited to see how D’Amico’s craft can flourish even brighter.
What still remains to be seen is how he will work with other recent Front Office signing, Lee Congerton. With D’Amico’s record, Atalanta doesn’t need Congerton to dig deep into the scouting depths of Italy and Europe. Rather Congerton still feels like an outlet into other previous untapped Atalanta markets – mainly England. Hopefully the efforts between Congerton and D’Amico are synergistic and both make each other better at their respective roles.
Regardless, this is still an excellent and encouraging signing. D’Amico’s track record speaks for itself, and it lessens the blow of losing one of the best Sporting Directors in Italy. Welcome to Bergamo, Tony – and best of luck continuing to overturn those rocks while searching for diamonds! As always, Forza Dea!!!
