After missing out on Europa League spot Udinese chairman, Giampaolo Pozzo, was not best pleased and decided to dismiss Pasquale Marino as Manager of Udinese Calcio. Within days a new manager was appointed to the 7th place finished Udinese, and he was Vlad Kutuzov, an unknown Manager from Russia. This was his first job after a tragic exit from International Football and by the looks of it, a hard one.
Pasquale Marino speechless after his tragic exit as Udinese Manager.
Udinese, also known as Zebrettes(Little Zebras), have been predicted to finish 8th in the League this season and coming in at 50-1 at winning Serie A, were no big contenders for a Champions League spot, however, a 6th place finish and an Europa League spot was still achievable. Kutuzov decided to take a risk and say that Udinese will qualify for Europa League this season.
$4.5million were given to Kutuzov as his transfer budget and by adjusting his wage budget, he was able to scrape $5million more, giving him a more or less decent budget. Kutuzov did not waste any time and was straight to the transfer market, securing 3 quick buys and only selling one.
First sale of Kutuzov's career as Udinese Manager, was of a Serbian Defender by the name of Aleksandar Lukovic to Bologna for a fee of $5million. Lukovic spent nearly 4 years at the Stadio Fruli, but was thought to be not good enough for Kutuzov's plans for Udinese.
Kutuzov quickly continued his stroll through the transfer market signing two Benfica's players for a total fee of $13.5million. The signings were Paraguayan striker Oscar Cardozo and flamboyant Argentine winger Angel Di Maria.
Di Maria joins the Zebrettes.
Cardozo leaves Estádio da Luz and re-unites with Di Maria at Stadio Fruli.
Kutuzov also snapped up two youngsters - wonderkid midfielder Marco Verratti and French Goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. Therefore ending his stroll in the Transfer Market
P.S. Pre-season update soon
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