Jose Boto’s press conference might not have made us any wiser in the news, but it revealed a lot about the philosophy and the way PAOK’s new sporting director sees football.

Let’s start from the beginning. In terms of coverage, Boto revealed that he is very close to an agreement with Ingi Ingasson to extend his contract and this was perhaps the only news heard from him, along with the confirmation of Esiti-to-Ferencvaros transfer negotiations .

He also said what he saw in Alexandrou Mitritsas made him decide not to press situations to bring another extreme forward to Toumba during the winter transfer window. But also how, in cooperation with the coach, he decided to leave Svinderski and stay in Tsolak because the Pole brought a better proposal and because he “likes” the Croatian. And as he emphasized several times: “He always trusts what his eyes see”.

What he intends to do next summer with the Romanian and the others who are on loan at PAOK, or even with the players whose contracts expire at the end of the season, he hasn’t said. It is logical, as he explained, that they are the ones who will fight for the rest of the season to achieve PAOK’s goals. “We go to war with them every Sunday‘ he finally pointed out.

Savvidis’ approach

Boto told about the conversations with Ivan Savvidis, how he persuaded him to take the post of sporting director within 2 hours without talking to him about money but only by analyzing the history and tradition of PAOK. “Our first contact was in mid-December. I wasn’t sure about this step. At our second meeting, we didn’t talk about money, but he gave me a reason for the history of the team. It was the first time a president had spoken about the traditions and history of the team and I liked that. It opened my mind to come here‘ the Portuguese asserted characteristically.

The parallel goals of PAOK

As for the goals of his work? Boto clarified that he believes it is entirely possible for PAOK to run a championship while respecting their financial self-sufficiency by promoting footballers and utilizing their added value. “If I see that none of this can happen, I’ll be the first to leave“, he said.

From the general “Our goal is to make PAOK an even bigger team“The new sporting director of Dikefalos came to analyze why the players who employ him in the transfer cannot be older than 24 years.

“We are trying to renew the team in the Middle Ages. The players we are interested in can be between 21 and 25 years old. At that age we moved with young but experienced players. No players from the academies. Teams also need to have players with expectations, including at a business level, with the prospect of reselling them so that we can allow them later. Players from regional leagues like Portugal, Greece or Ukraine only enter the big leagues at the age of 25-26. We have to follow the model. We did that at Benfica. We studied the market and acquired a transfer brand name that fits its needs. We have become a concession machine“, Boto emphasized and showed what will happen in the summer.

In fact, he said: “look to see. I know what players the big teams in leagues like Greece are looking for and I will try to bring those to PAOK“.

The difference to Olympiakos on the field is not -9

Until summer? The sporting director of Dikefalos believes the championship is not over, at least not yet. “When I came PAOK had 13-14 points difference to Olympiakos and 4 points to AEK. Now we are -9 from Olympiakos and 8 ahead of AEK. In my opinion we were much better in the derby with Olympiakos and we had to win. We have a hunch that if we narrow the gap even further, we can do something. I believe we can fight to the end.

Our difference to Olympiakos on the field is not 9 points“Lucescu said to remind a little bit with whom, as he pointed out, he has a similar philosophy for football, a fact that facilitates the cooperation between them.”If there was a coach with a different philosophy at PAOK, I might not be here. When I saw how Lucescu prefers it, I realized that it is very close to my idea of ​​football. If things were different, I would have to argue with him. something that happened to me in the past. I have the background to be able to make such decisions.

Shared ideas with Lucescu

So from the moment the philosophy is common, it becomes easy with the transfers too. The coach and I talk about the needs of the team, but also about the qualities of the players that we need. I analyze the market and suggest the players that I think are suitable. We need to know where we’re going to find players, otherwise everything we have is a waste of time. If I don’t have money to buy “Louis Vuitton”, I go to Zara, they have nice things. We know the budget we have and I have to convince the people in the team that it’s worth giving that money to a certain player“.

Also important was what Jose Boto said about the academies. At a team like PAOK, which has won the championship in the K-19 teams and younger years in recent years, Boto stressed that he doesn’t care. He again brought the example of Benfica and the practice used there, which, however, is not very different from that in Dikefalos. At PAOK, too, they make sure to use players who are younger than those provided for by the regulations in order to improve them.

Finally the “That’s why I say to the world: Don’t worry. We know what we’re doing and what we’re going to do in the summer“That was the essence of what Boto said. The Portuguese, without giving names for transfers, renewals and loans, conveyed the message that there is a concrete plan that has already been worked out. Who worked it out?”Me, the coach and the boss“as he said in relation to Ivan Savvidis. The rest? As PAOK FC’s vice-president said when introducing the Portuguese:”We are all his helpers“.