Atalanta’s 3-0 win at Anfield last week was seen in some quarters as a shock to European football, but it came as no surprise to Lee Congerton, who has prepared the current team after his last two years at the Stadio di Bergamo.
Two of the goals came from Italy’s summer signing Gianluca Scamacca, with one of the goals scored by Belgian Charles De Ketelaere, who was recruited in the same period. There was a Brazilian, an Albanian in the team and a Croatian midfielder also scored. Shocked viewers may not have known that the man who revamped the team was a Welshman called Congerton, born in Rhyl.
Congerton, by his own admission, has enjoyed being in the shadows throughout a varied but distinguished career in the world of recruitment and sporting directorship. But key positions at Sunderland, Celtic and Leicester have shown a performance that suggests the value of transfers has increased. Atalanta signed Rasmus Højlund in a deal rising to €20 million, which then saw him leave for Manchester United in a deal worth £72 million.
The win on Merseyside came as no surprise, as Congerton recruits players in the same way he did when signing Højlund from Sturm Graz: the youngsters were at the right stage of their careers, hungry to progress.
“The truth is they destroyed me in Italy at that time,” Congerton said. Telegram Sports. “This foreign man in Italian football bought an Austrian player born in 2003 who failed in Copenhagen. If you take the World Cup away from you, we will sell it 10 months later for 85 million Euros. That is Atalanta. Simple. They know what they are. “They trust the academy and scouting.”
Being a sports director is not like that. All About the signing of Wesley Fofana after his first start at St Etienne and him being sold for £75 million as he was at Leicester. As Congerton explains, the key to the process working at Atalanta is the simple structure that allows them to recruit combat players, with the coach doing his job on the training ground.
“[Gian Piero] Congerton said Gasperini had no interest in any of the players. “You ask him for his opinion, and he just says sell it to whoever you want, but make sure what you bring is better than what you’re selling. Simple.
“I’ve worked with great owners and one or two are not as good as you might expect. The owner, Antonio Percassi, was a professional player and understands football, which is quite unique at this level of ownership. Then Stephen Pagliuca and his American guys came and they are very respectful of the local identity.
“They are businessmen, but they are also athletes. They want to win. I asked what do we want to be? “It was very clear: we want to be in the top six, be in Europe every year and make a profit.”
Congerton’s role came when he took charge of football two years ago, having previously turned them down. “Luca Percassi (CEO) was calling me all the time. They came back and said I could be whoever I wanted. I asked to be number 10, captain and take the penalties! They created a unique role for me to have an English man as head of football. “You have to earn your degrees, but I think they gave me every opportunity to succeed,” he said.
He left the Italians last month after accepting an offer to become sporting director of Al-Ahli in the Saudi Pro League, but his Anfield win had his fingerprints all over it, but Congerton has a foot in both camps after being named in the Liverpool squad. the beginning of his career. “I also have an incredible affinity with Liverpool!” It reminds me.
Working with Ron Gourlay, whom he knew at Chelsea, was a great opportunity for Congerton to go to Saudi Arabia. “Jeddah, in particular, is a warm and passionate place, as you can imagine. “I was impressed by football, we played 50,000 matches at home with an extraordinary atmosphere,” he says.
He worked at Chelsea with his mentor Frank Arnesen, whom he still talks to every week. He worked with him in Hamburg, where Son Heung-min emerged and Hakan Çalhanoğlu was taken from the lower leagues. After Germany, Congerton believes some of his work at Sunderland was his greatest achievement as sporting director.
“When I arrived, we were at the bottom of the league and the owner didn’t like football,” he said. “It was my first time on my own at a big club and we managed to survive on loans and freebies and got better every year.”
His stints at Celtic and Leicester were Brendan Rodgers’ manager and saw players such as Odsonne Edouard and Moussa Dembele come and go from the major European leagues. Fofana was recruited at Leicester and Congerton, as senior recruiter, was a key figure in the deal for Harry Maguire to Manchester United, which made him the world’s most expensive defender.
“We had no money at Celtic,” Congerton said. “Peter Lawwell is a good man, an accountant. Brendan talked to me and said we need speed, power and speed. We all know PSG had a great youth program with players who would never play for PSG at the time. Two of the other players we tried to sign during my time [Moussa] Diaby is currently at Aston Villa. [Christopher] Nkunku is now at Chelsea.”
“But there were a few players I didn’t want to be around and that’s why I left. Peter knows that, so does Brendan. Atalanta is very different.
“What a good business owner in Leicester [Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha]. What a man But. He deserves all the praise and praise. I know they’re going through some tough times. Wesley is gone [Timothy] Castagne, Harvey [Barnes], [James] Maddison, Youri [Tielemans], you’re talking about top players. Players need to be hungry. If this becomes the norm and you are not trying and there is no hunger there.
“You always have to renew, sign at that level. At Chelsea I learned the mentality of real champions: John Terry or [Michael] Ballack, Joe Cole or Ashley Cole, [Didier] Drogba. “They are hungry to win and that is what makes them so successful at what they do.”
As for personal ambitions, Congerton’s career has involved many clubs, so it’s likely we’ll see him back in England eventually. “Frank always said he saw me going to different places. I have an adventure in me and I’m lucky that my wife is the same way when it comes to trying new things. I could have stayed longer at each club, but it was my choice. You’re reaching three years and I think I need that incentive. “I love growing things, but I’m always excited about a new challenge.”