Boto: “We want to become a team that will sell players – All together in the war”

He spoke about everyone and everything Jose Boto in the first press conference he gave from the moment he took over the position of sports director, as he referred to specific persons, but also to the daily life of PAOK in general.

The Portuguese talked about his relationship with him Razvan Lucescufor the logic of transfers, for the contracts that will be completed next summer, but also for the Academies.

In detail what he said:

For the background of the negotiations with Ivan Savvidis until he says “yes”:

“The first contact took place in mid-December. At the first meeting I was surprised and did not know if I wanted to take this step. Then I had other meetings with Ivan. There was a confusion with the hours I calculated in Ukrainian time he in Russian time, there was a confusion, but after 2 hours he convinced me. In these rallies we never talked about money, but about the history of the team. It was the first time a president spoke to me about the history of the team, it was something very nice and it opened my horizons. He asked me to make PAOK even bigger than it is now. Some people write to me “Boto make PAOK great”. But this is wrong. PAOK is already big. I have been asked, with my knowledge, to help the team rise to European standards in all areas of football. He did not ask me for the championship. This is self-evident “.

For the roster image:

“I had an idea when I came. I spent enough time to understand the team. I studied the team a lot, but I also wanted to see with my own eyes how the team trains, how it behaves and everything related. When I came I had an idea and asked to analyze the team. Now I, the coach and Ivan Savvidis know what we will do in the summer. When I came I had an opinion about the team, but now it changed, seeing how they train. You can have specific ideas, but you must also be able to change them. I want to tell the world, do not stress, we know what we do. We do not play football manager. Everything we do and say has an impact on the team. When I came I thought the team needed an extreme. I started looking for a player for the position. However, I saw Mitritsa in training, I saw that he has quality, but for various reasons he had not shown it yet. If I brought a player then I would kill him. So we decided not to bring extremes and to show confidence in Mitritsas, who in the last game was MVP. It’s real life and not football manager “.

For the gossip about the involvement of Mircea Lucescu:

“I have never worked with Mircea Lucescu. I met him twice, so everything is rumors. I think we need to improve a lot of things, not what I thought before I came. We need to have a specific line. Razvan was a coach in 2019 and then came coaches with a different perspective. This is a problem that exists in many clubs. We must have a line and follow it. Let’s not go from wine to milk “.

For the contracts of Ingasson and Assiti:

“For Ingasson, there is no question that people should not worry. The player wants to stay. The team wants him, so in the coming days we will have fun. For Esiti he is a player we are negotiating for, I hope by the end of the day the case is closed. For borrowers this is not the time to talk about it. We know what we want, of course, but this is not the time to talk about it. Players must be focused. They play every 3 days and it is not easy. I and the club know what we want “.

For the image he has formed with PAOK:

“When you see something from the outside you should not believe it until you see it from the inside. Experience tells me to believe my eyes and not what they tell me. When I started talking to the team I started watching all the games of PAOK. I saw that the team was improving, it was on the rise. I wanted to be here to see what happens. When I came then I changed my mind, I saw that a professional job was being done, but there was probably a problem of self-confidence, The team is not perfect, we have to be objective. I’m a sports director I have to be close to the team. Talk to the coach and make decisions with him. To support her, maybe sometimes I am hard with her. I have to be with her constantly. PAOK is my team, I suffer with it, and I celebrate with it. When we lose I want to support the team. Of course, I lost the first goal against AEK because I was coming down from the suite to be next to the team in case it loses “.

For what he wants to change:

“All teams always have room for improvement. Of course the same goes for us. Our plan is to help the team improve, to become more consistent, more compact and to put in place the line we have, even if there is a change in faces. The good thing is that my views on football are similar to those of the coach. Having your goals in mind makes it easier to reach them. You do not need to ask me anything negative about being a member of the team. We go to war together every week “.

For the transfer goals and for the fact that he is now the eighth athletic director who has passed from PAOK during the Savvidis era:

“We are definitely trying to renew the age group. We want to bring players with some experience in men’s football. Do not come from Academies at the ages of 21 or 25. The team must have a business model at these ages. Have a resale perspective. I want to become a team that will sell players. Players up to 26 years old can go to a big league after this age transfers are made inside. We made Benfica a machine for selling players, we did it by analyzing, of course. One of the worst things here in Greece is the perception of the world. They ask me why I came here. As for the second question, I do not care. If you asked me in December when I was playing in Milan with Shakhtar, if I was in Greece in February I would say that there is no case. “What interests me when I leave here is that I have left something behind.”.

For the Brazilian market:

“Brazil is a market that I know well and is one of the best in the world. It is a difficult market. A player can just know how to shoot and for that they ask you for 20 million. You have to be careful in your movements in Brazil. If we look at the total number of players playing in Europe, the Brazilians are far more “.

For the Academies and the plan for PAOK B ‘:

“I do not think a club is big without good academies. For me, academies are important. We must have the same idea of ​​how the teams from the 1st team to the lowest age group will compete. I’m not talking about the system. I’m talking about the idea. The academy is completely different from the 1st group. Tournaments are not important, the most important thing is to develop the players. When I went to Benfica, she was a champion of all ages at the academy. But I had not nominated any footballer. We changed that, the best player of K17 was promoted to K19, that of K19 to the men’s team. When you follow the other system, you can win 10-0, but you do not develop players. In Benfica, the plan was difficult because the coaches were moaning. The most important thing is to bring players to the first team. I did not have time to look in depth at the academy, but I promise I will. Pablo was the first one I met when I came. We talked in training. I have talked to everyone in the academy. My assistant always watches the toys. The goal is to bring players to the first team. The ideal is to win titles and bring players to the first team “.

For the Greek market:

“It’s one of the things we look at in the Greek market. I believe that teams should also have natives. Of course we look at the so-called small teams to see if there are players that fit our plan and our philosophy. “.

For Vierinias:

“I will not tell you my idea for Andre. If I start talking about them it will not be good. However, the important thing is that Andre knows what my plans are for him. The first meetings were so good that they convinced me. The last meeting was when I did an analysis of the club and how we should move now and in the summer as well. Mr. Savvidis knows and agrees. We are together in this process and this is the answer to those who want to hurt themselves and the team. He is a man who has and told me ideas on how we can help and improve the team and that is also an answer “.

For Paschalakis, Crespo, Biseswar, Swab and Sfinderski:

“I know what I want to do with these players, but I can not say now. These are things I can not say now. I’m open, people like to know what I’m thinking, but I can not say what we’re going to do. As for Carroll, we play a striker at the top, it is unlikely a team will have four strikers for the same position. If no one left we would have Akpom, Carol, Nelson, Colak and Koutsia. If you had two cars which one would you sell? The one that will bring more money. I believe that Tsolak has things to give to the team “.

For Lutsescu’s philosophy:

“The easiest thing to study was the coach’s philosophy. If the coach had other ideas I might not be here. We had not spoken before December 26. Before I came I had analyzed it. I like the way he plays. The general idea is the same, maybe if we had a coach with other ideas I might not be here. It’s easier we do not have to adjust and argue. I have a background that allows me to choose what to do. As for the second question, that is my goal. If I did not think we could do it all together I would not be here. If I see that this does not happen I will be the first to leave “.

For Varelas:

“Varela is like Vierinias. A player with a history in the team and we must respect him. It’s different whether he is ready to help the team. This is not the right time I think. In general, not for Varelas, from what I see one of the mistakes of the teams is that they should respect the history, but not stay attached to it. I repeat, this is not about Varelas. It is general. “I just think we should respect history, but also look ahead.”

For the budget and transfers

“This is something I found in the team. It is one of the tasks, that is, to set limits. The coach and I talk about the needs of the team and the characteristics it should have, I analyze the market. I suggest players end up and move on. We need to know where we need to go for the players. We know what our budget is and then it is my responsibility to convince the management why we have to move for a specific player “.