Nicolás Burdisso’s new life 10 months after his departure as Boca sports director

With the mission of rebuilding a squad that had received the hardest blow in its history after the 2018 Libertadores final against River in Madrid, Nicolas Burdisso was hired as sports director of Boca by Daniel Angelici. The position that had become obsolete since the last experience of Carlos Bianchi was reactivated with the assumption of the former defender who remained for a year and said goodbye together with the previous management. What did you do in the 10 months that have elapsed since your departure?

Nico, multi-champion wearing the shirt blue and gold, made a daring move on his return as manager at a critical institutional moment. Guillermo Barros Schelotto had set the bar high because Boca came from stepping on the final stages at the continental level and being two-time Argentine champion, but the exalted River of Marcelo Gallardo had injured him in the final played in Santiago Bernabeu.

Among his most outstanding efforts, the former central defender who had Aníbal Matellán and Nicolás Chiesa by his side, was planted with Angelici to hire Gustavo Alfaro as a replacement for the Twin and bet big in the market with the incorporation of Iván Marcone, Jorman Campuzano, Lisandro López and Junior Alonso (Marcos Díaz, Gastón Ávila and Kevin Mac Allister also arrived as alternatives or bets). But without a doubt His heavy artillery was the arrival of the Italian Daniele De Rossi, which moved national and world football. Catfish It ended up leaving a good impression from the sporting and human point of view, although it was only used as a replacement by the DT. The revolution he created was considered a triumph for Burdisso.

In parallel, the directive committee to which he belonged was detached from two key figures such as Darío Benedetto and uruguay Nahitan Nandez just ahead of the round of 16 of the 2019 Cup. They were two sales that had been postponed in the summer market and neither of the two footballers gave their arm to twist: they chose to leave to fulfill their European dreams. Halfway through the year Five De Rossi was joined Jan Hurtado and Franco Soldano and Alexis Mac Allister, the last of those mentioned being the only one who settled in the starting eleven.

Throughout his leadership he spoke with a Mauro Icardi who was in conflict with Inter Milan and ended up going to Paris Saint Germain. Because of its link to Neroazzurro Since his time as a footballer, Burdisso communicated and informally polled him. The economic differences were insurmountable and that negotiation did not take shape as it did with that of Jose Luis Palomino, former defender of San Lorenzo and today the figure of an Atalanta that was all the rage in the last edition of the Champions League. For the 30-year-old from Tucumán Boca came to offer 7 million euros But the Bergamo entity closed the exit door with a padlock and hung the non-transferable sign. It was there that in the Ribera they were definitely inclined towards the alternative of Despite López (Genoa, another former Burdisso team), more accessible, which paid off.

He Xeneize He succumbed again in the semifinals of the Libertadores 2019 against River and that fall (1-2 on the aggregate) marked a before and after for almost all its components: Angelici, Burdisso and Alfaro. The future of the last two became uncertain from the moment in which Christian Gribaudo, official candidate, was below in the polls with Jorge Amor Ameal, who had his ace up his sleeve (Juan Román Riquelme). After the December elections, the contract with an Alfaro replaced by Miguel Ángel Russo expired and, despite Burdisso having been linked for one more year, He chose to move away since he was not considered in Roman’s project within a Soccer Council made up of Jorge Bermúdez, Raúl Cascini and Marcelo Delgado.

Just before saying goodbye he had closed as reinforcement to Nicolas Gaitan and the arrival of Paolo GuerreroA negotiation that was held by Riquelme but did not finally come to fruition. He handed over the keys to his office but not before making available a detailed report of his management that included planning for the future in the short, medium and long term.

The first months of 2020 served Burdisso to stop the ball and put his beards to soak. The vortex of the day to day of the previous year had taken time with his family and friends, something that he recovered and squeezed out with the declaration of the coronavirus pandemic. It was a time of reflection and projection, with the conviction and intention of getting on the bandwagon of some proposal that would seduce him (as long as it was linked to sports management).

His work in Boca was well valued in the soccer world: received a contact from the previous owners of Roma and also considered an offer from Brazilian football. He even had contacts with some teams in Argentina that he preferred to discard. Before venturing into another job I wanted to finish an earring: obtain the UEFA License as a Sporting Director. That is why when the activity resumed in the Old Continent he settled there for more than a month to settle the matter (he returned to the country a few days ago). In a matter of hours you will have the certification of the title. On the sidelines, he has the UEFA B coach’s card, which would allow him to direct a Reserve or be a field assistant on Italian soil; However, his current focus is clearly directed at sports management.

In social networks he was active. In addition to being based in Italy, where he practiced the language as a commentator for a Serie A match, he traveled to Paris and london, where he met up with old friends like Wilfredo Caballero (former teammates in Boca and today the goalkeeper belongs to Chelsea) and Erik Lamela (They were together in Rome). And surely he had a coffee with Francesco Totti, whom he recommended to Mateo Retegui before the Roman star became the representative of the youth xeneize.

“The sporting director must fill the gap that exists between the club and the team. The president has other things in mind, the coach has to think about the game and the players are the protagonists. The sports director is the person who has to involve all areas to achieve the best scenario “, Burdisso said a while ago, that in the managerial role he will pursue two goals that he failed to achieve as a footballer: the Champions League and a World Cup.

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