Having arrived on the Bologna bench for a little over a year, Thiago Motta is living a waking dream with his Rossoblù. After a convincing first season, finishing in 9th position, the Italian coach had a fairly eventful summer with his management. Between the advances of Paris Saint-Germain and other clubs like AS Roma and Napoli who were eyeing him closely as we revealed to you exclusively, discussions had for a time broken off with his management, made up in particular of the owner Joey Saputo, from president Claudio Fenucci, technical area manager Giovanni Sartori and sports director Marco Di Vaio, due to slight disagreements over the set goals and targets for the summer transfer window. A certain pessimism remained among the Bolognese leaders who had ticked off several names of possible successors in the event of a hasty departure of Thiago Motta.
But ultimately, Thiago Motta and his staff got what they wanted, including the promise not to sell essential executives such as Riccardo Orsolini, Lewis Ferguson and Stefan Posch. Only Nicolás Domínguez was forced to be sold to Nottingham Forest despite Motta’s desire to keep him. A departure nevertheless well cushioned by the arrivals of Giovanni Fabbian (Inter), Dan Ndoye (Basel) and the loan of Alexis Saelemaekers (AC Milan). It is with a strengthened group and motivated executives that Thiago Motta began the second year of his project with the objective of guiding his Rossoblù towards a European competition. And one thing is certain: at mid-season, Bologna is not far from fulfilling its objective set at the start of the season since Motta’s troops are now in 5th position, only three small units behind AC Milan who are third on the Serie A podium.
An impressive start to the season
If the balance sheet is obviously the element which best illustrates Bologna’s current form, the game is not left out. We had already offered you a long analysis into the brain of Thiago Motta, when the latter came to settle down in Emilia-Romagna. With a full season under the belt, an entire system has been assimilated and oiled in recent months, to the point of becoming a symphony perfectly mastered by the Rossoblù technical orchestra and its 11 musicians. Throughout the season, Motta’s Bologna looked to control matches while boasting the fifth best xG of the season (13.3). It’s not as if they outperformed strongly, which shows that their rise may well be sustainable. With the 3rd best defense in Serie A driven by the very good season of rookie Sam Beukema, Bologna held off several Italian big names such as Juventus (1-1), Naples (0-0) and Inter (2 -2) by grabbing a point, beating Lazio (1-0). And unlike Udinese, who were a surprise last season before running out of steam, Bologna’s performance seems much more healthy, solid and stable, especially since there is already a tactical identity based on possession and the use of spaces in 4-3-3 or its adaptable variant in 4-2-3-1.
A victory against Salernitana and Bologna is in 5th place in Serie A. An unexpected position for the club coached by Thiago Motta, who continues to cause a sensation on the other side of the Alps. With Joshua Zirkzee in the spotlight and impressing, Riccardo Orsolini and Lewis Ferguson also provided their creative spark and sense of goal. Moreover, according to our information, Lewis Ferguson is one of the Bologna players who could set the pace for the next transfer windows. Indeed, Juventus and Lazio are still pushing internally but we have learned that the player’s preference would be for the Premier League with Liverpool in particular on the shelves. This new Scottish find clearly illustrates the extent to which the Rossoblù are and always have been a multicultural unit. The club, even before the Saputo takeover, seemed to have a very clear plan behind its signings: seek talent in the lesser-known centers of world football to offer them a chance to grow in tactical systems that rely on the hiring of young talents with freedom to improve. In this sense, to compensate for a probable departure of Ferguson, the Bolognese management continues to negotiate for the arrival of the American Tanner Tessmann from Venice according to our indiscretions.
The major asset Joshua Zirkzee
Author of seven goals and two assists, Joshua Zirkzee (22 years old) appears as the offensive leader of this great team. Arriving in Bologna for 8.5 million euros in the summer of 2022 after a successful loan to Anderlecht, the 1m93 Dutch giant is gaining momentum and even scored his first double in Italy against Salernitana last weekend: “I’m happy, not just for the double, but for the match. I had a great first half, the second half was a little more difficult. We had a great match, but it’s already in the past, let’s move on to the next one.”, said the 22-year-old striker. According to our information, the Dutch nugget is already attracting desire and the Bolognese management knows that it will be very difficult – if not impossible – to keep their player. Moreover, they activate several tracks internally. In pole position, the young Argentine striker Santiago Castro (19 years old) from Velez is unanimous. The leaders are also monitoring Sardar Azmoun (Roma) and Duncan McGuire (Orlando).
Pure product of the Bavarian team, Bayern has not said its last word and is monitoring its former player in the hope of repatriating him next summer. Still according to our indiscretions, Thomas Tuchel is a big fan of Joshua Zirkzee and it is also for this reason that the Bavarian leaders included, in the sale of the player to Bologna last summer, a clause allowing them to match all the offers that the Rossoblù will receive for the Dutchman. Indeed, several Italian big names are already on board, notably AC Milan and Napoli who are not letting go of the native of Schiedam. On the other hand, Bologna maintains, not without fear, its position by affirming its intention to keep its jewel during the winter transfer window and demanding at least 40 million euros to give in.
