From Chevanton to Vucinic, from Miccoli to Osvaldo, to more recently Hjulmand, Dorgu and Krstovic. These are just some of the talents suddenly discovered by one of the longest-serving and most underrated Italian football managers: Let’s relive the career of Pantaleo Corvino.
Pantaleo Corvino, discoveries and success story
One of the most famous features of the city of Lecce is its Baroque art. As you wander the streets of the centre, you find yourself surrounded. an exciting range of historic buildings They radiate extraordinary richness and it is difficult not to be impressed by them. A little further down a hypothetical list of cultural wonders is Lecce’s cuisine, which ranges from pasticciotto, a baked shortcrust pastry filled with cream that’s perfect for breakfast, to taieddha, a rice pilaf with potatoes and mussels that we can describe as the perfect meal for breakfast. Sort of like a Salento style paella.
Behind the majestic buildings, beyond the delicious cuisine, Lecce is now famous for something else: its incredible football team, put together by a slightly grumpy man who goes by the name of Pantaleo Corvino, who is certainly never banal. Born in 1949 in Vernole, a small town fifteen kilometers from Lecce, Corvino is undoubtedly one of the most respected men in football Not only in Italy, but also internationally.
Discoveries and achievements of sports director Pantaleo Corvino
His Lecce, who were brought back to Serie A after the surprise victory in the 2021/2022 interstellar championship, is a case that many experts are working on today to copy the format he has in scouting. Exceptional management of Corvino’s works, its fantastic secret. Lecce’s sporting director has performed the last of his miracles with the salvation of the 2022/2023 season and is eagerly waiting to see how the season will end.
Corvino, who made money from the sale of Hjulmand, who was transferred to Benfica for 18 million euros, played positively and added Lecce to the squad instead of dismantling the team. but unknown players who are in good shape and this can guarantee interesting capital gains at the end of the season.
Most of all, twenty-three-year-old Montenegrin striker Nikola Krstovic, acquired from the Slovaks Dunajská Streda for $3 million, and midfielder Ilber RamazaniThe 27-year-old Albanian, who comes from Scottish Aberdeen and pays just 1 million, are two players who already have a lot on the transfer market.
It should be added to these Patrick DorguThe 19-year-old was kidnapped from Nordsjælland by the Norwegians in July 2022. only two hundred thousand euros After contributing outstanding performances to last year’s Primavera Scudetto victory, today he is permanently in the first team and is in the spotlight of big clubs such as Liverpool, Barcelona, Manchester City and Atletico Madrid.
And there are players who have made many requests since last season, but in the end they stayed. Like dribbling winger Lameck Banda, who came from Maccabi Petah Tikva for 2 million euros. Or one of Panteleo Corvino’s absolute masterpieces defender Federico BaschirottoBought from Ascoli for only 280 thousand euros and today, it is in the notebooks of almost all Italian teams competing for Europe.
Hatred and love for the director of miracles
Of course relationship Corvino has never been easier with fans. In Florence, despite three fourth places, semi-final in the UEFA Cup, always a very competitive team, important players (the last shot was Vlahovic, he was bought from Partizan Belgrade for only half a million euros and later by the owners of the Commissioner resold). eighty), the relationship with the Viola base has never been idyllic.
And even in Lecce, despite great work on the market with extremely limited budgets, most of the time Fans objected to Pantaleo Corvino Also very difficult. Corvino’s answer has always been very clear, reiterating that teams like the Salento team must be patient, be able to focus on potential and avoid situations they cannot afford, and here Corvino is literally referred to as “playing PlayStation”.
One of the transfers that Lecce’s sporting director likes to remember the most is the linked transfers On Cristiano Lucarelli’s arrival to the Giallorossi teamHe was recruited from Valencia in 1999, during Corvino’s first stint as coach at Salento. At the time, Lucarelli’s arrival was met with great skepticism by fans. The Livorno coach had actually arrived for two seasons with very few appearances and was picked up by Valencia, where he recorded a disastrous year.
As if that wasn’t enough, he landed in Lecce absolutely out of shape; As Corvino recalled in an interview about a year ago, he was more interested in eating pasticciotti than training on the field. Well, in season two Lucarelli to score impressive 31 goals at LecceThis transfer, which is essential for the Giallorossi to retain Serie A, will later be sold to Torino for almost 20 billion lira.
The string of big deals Corvino has made could go on forever. For example there is Chevanton arrived on a free transfer It was purchased by the Argentinian Colon of Santa Fe and then, after being the dream of Lecce fans for three seasons, it was sold to the French of Monaco for 10 million euros in 2004.
Or Valeri Bojinov, who was taken from a small Maltese team when he was only 14 years old and then went to Juventus for 15 million euros. Or finally, Mirko Vucinic was discovered at the age of seventeen He played for Montenegrin junior club Sutjeska Nikšić and then, after six outstanding seasons at Lecce, transferred to Roma for 20 million euros.
These are just a few of the stories that tell the story of Panteleo Corvino. Italian football’s greatest talent scouta scout who works as before, without algorithms, but only with a tested network of trusted people and scouts and the simple instinct of someone who knows how to recognize a good player.
