The Udinese method: how it increases the value of its players by 400 percent

He Udinese commitment to change. It has its own stadium, a ‘rare bird’ in Italy. It is the most sustainable club in A series. It increases the value of its players by 400% thanks to its extensive ‘Scouting’ network. The family goodowner, is also the owner of watford. Between them they have generated over 200 million in revenue over the last ten years. The club drives the city. This is the way Udinese wants to bring the team back to European competitions.

Udinese is the revelation of the start of the Serie A campaign, its twenty-eighth followed in the highest category of ‘calcio’. outshone a Naples which was emerging at that time. The goal of the black and white team is clear, to return to European competitions where one day, not so long ago, he was a regular.

Now, with a solid foundation in sports management, his goal is within reach. The key is to bet on change.

“The model we’ve followed for years is based on innovation. We’ve done it in ‘Bossman’s judgement‘ (removed the limit of foreign players in teams); Udinese was one of the first clubs to take advantage of that opportunity”, explained the CEO of the Italian club to EFE, Franco Collavino.

“We are innovative in creating a scouting system, which still represents excellence, so that young footballers can be launched on the main stages around the world,” he added.

“We were also innovative when we decided to build our own stadium here in Italy, at a time when there was no stadium law and where until now most other clubs in Italy were still deciding what kind of stadium to build, while we have enjoyed it for many years,” said the president.

GRANADA AND WATFORD, A SPRINGBOARD FOR SCOUTING

Another strategy chosen by the club and which has been key to its growth is the expansion of the property network, as pioneers in Italy and Europe, looking forward to what is now known as timeshare. First at Granada, then at Watford.

“We have been innovative in creating synergy with other European clubs, first with Granada in Spain from 2009 to 2016, and currently with Watford, which has allowed us to combine the excellence of both companies. I believe that this operating method is what it is. allows us to remain competitive for a long time”, thought Collavino.

A plan that served to expand Udinese’s great bet: the ‘scouting’, the one where they train players, make room for them in the first team and then sell to bigger teams generating huge margins , making this area one of the club’s priorities Cases of Alexis Sánchez, Juan Cuadrado, Nahuel Molina or Rodrigo de Paul they give a good account of it.

“We have a great team of scouts who go around the world watching the best competitions, for example sub20, sub18 or sub19. Udinese is present all over the world,” Andrea Carnevale, who manages this sector, said in EFE.

“The process is to get unknown players, bring them here to train them, they go to the first team and, after two or three years, the best teams go to the best teams,” said Carnevale .

A strategy that has evolved over the years: “We got players with good projection and now we have the ability to understand and intuit how far a player can go at the highest level.”

FOOTBALL AS THE ECONOMIC ENGINE OF A CITY

Few things have more impact than soccer, and in the northern city of Udine it is no different. In his case, the stadium, which has also become a social meeting place for citizens and companies, has become a nerve center, leading a town that not so long ago was known only for its proximity to Venice.

“Thirty years ago, a city like Udine was known worldwide for being close to Venice. Today, on the other hand, most people in the world associate the city with Udinese and I am convinced that it is an important merit that the club had in building the brand, also in favor of the growth of the region”, pointed out Collavino.

PLACING THE FLAG

And it is that Udinese is the fourth most sustainable club in the world, just behind Liverpool, Betis and Real Madrid. It is a first in Serie A thanks to initiatives such as the use of a shirt made of 100% recyclable material or the fact that the stadium, the Dacia Arena, exclusively uses energy from renewable sources.

“We were the first to give a message of sustainability through football. The Macron brand made the shirt with us, but then implemented it in the other 70 teams where it works,” Magda Pozzo, director of commercial strategy of club

A PROJECT THAT NEVER STOPS

“The next step is not to stop and continue developing one of the activities we want to do, which is to take advantage of this 20,000 m2 of the stadium. Using football to create ‘networking’ between all the companies in Italy and to launch powerful messages like sustainability,” Pozzo said.

The Udinese approach involves change, a commitment to grassroots training to reap the benefits, its own stadium and a management backed by Watford. All this with one goal in mind: to return to Europe.