MILAN – Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio was interviewed live by SportItalia as he was named best sporting director at the 6th TMW Awards.
"The previous winners of this award are all renowned names and I hope I can emulate what they achieved in their careers. I’m young, but I’ve been in the football industry for many years. The best thing is that I’ve been able to experience so many things along the way, so I’m really pleased with the award.
"I’d like to dedicate the award to my family. I know that they’ve made sacrifices to allow me to do what I do. I embarked on this adventure with great passion – with great desire to prove myself – and my parents gave me so much support. I’ve now got a wife and two children and they spur me on every single day.
"I’ve had lots and different experiences and they’ve all helped me to learn. That’s what makes today all the sweeter. I started at Inter in 1998 as youth academy secretary and went from there, with hard work and dedication. I’m delighted.
"Every day is tough, but I’m convinced we’ll achieve our objectives. My best moment? My success with the Primavera and Allievi sides spring to mind straight away. And, of course, that wonderful night in Madrid. I’ll never forget all the players we’ve unearthed over the years: Bonucci, Destro, Balotelli, Pandev, Santon. There are so many that I can’t even remember them all…
"This summer, we had to approach our transfer business keeping in mind certain obligations and considerations. We brought some players in – it’s always a gamble to a certain extent. We signed Medel, who’s showing what he’s capable of under Mancini. We wanted to sign quality players. Our January transfer window was certainly a bit more eye-catching as we managed to finalise deals for players we’d be scouting for a while. We took our opportunities to sign them – we did very well to secure Brozovic, for example.
"I’ve been lucky enough to work with Branca for many years, building a team that ended up winning everything there is to win. It’s a different time now, and we have to find the players that are best suited to our needs. I hope we can taste success again soon.
"Icardi? He’s an instinctive young man. He does exactly what pops into his head – and usually that means scoring goals! He’s capable of wonderful things and is a player that can make the impossible seem easy. Goals are the most important thing for a striker. Mauro is a very calm, level-headed lad who’s completely devoted to his family. He works tirelessly during the week and scores goals on a Sunday. We’ve met with his agent a couple of times, but let’s not forget that his contract doesn’t expire for a good while. Of course, we want to keep hold of Mauro – and he chose to come here because he felt that Inter were the ideal team for him.
"Mancini didn’t want to take the easy option – he wanted to lay the foundations for future success. You can’t expect the team to respond perfectly to new instructions. That’s what your summer training camps are for. But Mancini has had to do it with matches coming around thick and fast. The positives are the way the team’s playing, the development of the squad and our recent results. Podolski? He’s training very well. Lukas has played in three World Cups and won one. He’ll show us what he can do," declared Ausilio.
"Thohir is extremely passionate about the club, and with modern-day technology he’s in contact with us 24 hours a day!" he said with a chuckle.
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