The Petillo Model

The year is 2036 (in my Football Manager fantasy world), and I haven’t posted an update on my Livorno save since the end of season 2 (some 11 seasons ago), when we lifted the Serie D Group E title back in 2024/25. A lot’s happening since then. Having just finished in our highest ever league position (9th in Serie A) with our highest ever points tally (56), it’s time to take the next step and push for European qualification. It’s not something expected by the board (mid table will do for them), but something we’ll need to do if we’re to keep hold of our prized assets. The jewel of our crown, 21 year old wonderkid, Lucio Petillo – who recently made his first 2 appearances for Italy, scoring his first international goal – is wanted by some of the finest clubs in Europe. A promise that we’ll vastly improve the squad has earned us a gentleman’s agreement that he’ll stay for the time being, and see how we progress. Fair’s fair, we’ve turned down bids as high as £70M+ (with add-ons) to keep him beyond his 4 year stay with us, and brought in a whole host of quality players to bolster our ranks, to which he’s declared himself happy.

Lucio Petillo

It’s this potentially pivotal moment that has spring boarded a massive change in our transfer policy this season, and seen a very tightly managed wage structure loosened somewhat. I’ve taken my promise seriously and gone as big as I dare in the transfer market. We’re not a rich club as such, and still in our original ground with modest gate receipts and income, so my new transfer strategy has been what I’m now terming as the ‘Petillo model’, looking to bring in highly talented youth players and wonderkids, with the option to buy in the future. We did exactly this for Petillo, signing him on loan from Genoa for a season before making his stay permanent for £10.75M. Where we can’t make those deals permanent, we’ll look for the next one, or try and extend the loan deal. Surplus and aging players will be moved on when good opportunities arise. We’ll still aim to bring in Italian talents in the main, partly due to league restrictions on non EU players, but also to keep a core group of young, native talents who can potentially go on to develop into world class players for club and country.

Parameters of ‘The Petillo Model’

• Seek loan deals for wonderkids, with an option to buy where possible
• Scout the Italian leagues as a permanent assignment
• Move on aging players for profit when feasible/profitable
• Predominantly aim to purchase home grown players
• Try to develop high calibre academy prospects

After a 4-2 win over Vicenza in our first pre-season friendly, we’ve now got a run of much tougher opposition to test ourselves against – Roma, Juventus, Atlanta, Inter, Lazio, Napoli and Udinese, before the new season starts proper.