Director Filippo Antonelli's statement

Filippo Antonelli, Sporting Director & General Manager of Venezia FC, spoke today at the press room of Ca’ Venezia.


Filippo Antonelli
"Today, I wanted to take stock with you of the recently concluded transfer window and the progress of the season.

First of all, I want to clarify the transfer of Joel Pohjanpalo to Palermo. At the beginning of the January transfer window, his departure was not in our plans. However, as often happens during transfer periods, situations can change quickly. Palermo made an important offer to the player, and he found it appealing, ultimately deciding to accept it. Joel wanted to take on a new challenge in a league where he had already proven his worth while wearing the arancioneroverde jersey. Considering his wishes and the offer of around 5 million, we decided to let him go. Joel was a key figure for our club, contributing with his goals to our promotion to Serie A.

Following this transaction, we finalized the permanent signing of Fila, a player we had been tracking for some time. Additionally, we retained Gytkjaer and brought in Maric to provide more attacking options.

We approached this transfer window with the goal of strengthening the squad. We are currently second-to-last in the standings, a position that neither the fans nor we are satisfied with, but we aim to climb back up, starting with the next match against Roma. We are still fully in the race to achieve our objective, and despite the challenges, we have worked to provide coach Di Francesco with more options.

At the beginning of the season, we decided to rely on the core group of players who had secured promotion from Serie B, reinforcing them with the additions of Duncan, Oristanio, Stankovic, Hans Nicolussi Caviglia, Yeboah, Doumbia, Schingtienne, and Sagrado, under the guidance of the coach, who was tasked with assessing their development in the top division.

After the first half of the season, we identified key areas to strengthen, and in January, our objective was to integrate Zerbin, Perez, Condé, Candé, Marcandalli, and a forward. We managed to achieve about 80% of our goals, even though some deals took a few days longer than we had initially hoped.

We operated within the club’s timelines and financial balances, which we have to manage and handle at this moment: every new signing had to be preceded by a departure. These factors, combined with the dynamics of the transfer market and our status as a newly promoted team, influenced our strategy. While in Serie B we were an attractive destination, in Serie A, we still have to establish ourselves.

Despite this, today we can count on twenty owned players, including Oristanio, Hans Nicolussi Caviglia, Idzes, Yeboah, Kike Perez, and Fila. Furthermore, we acquired players on loan with purchase options, such as Zerbin, Candé, and Stankovic. This is the result of planning and efforts to increase the club’s economic value.

We faced the January transfer window knowing we had to compete with historic clubs in the league. We succeeded thanks to the relationships I have built over the years with Serie A and international clubs, which allowed us to complete important deals, such as those for Zerbin from Napoli and Radu from Inter.

We transferred Ellertsson to Genoa in a deal beneficial to both the club and the player, while keeping him on loan until the end of the season to continue pursuing our common goal. This transfer also reflects the work done by the coach and the club in enhancing the squad’s value.

The only unexpected events were the sale of Pohjanpalo and Stankovic’s injury. For the latter, we acted quickly by securing Radu. We send Filip our best wishes for a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back on the field soon.

During the transfer window, we had advanced negotiations for Shomurodov and Yaremchuk, deals that had been agreed upon with their respective clubs. However, developments on the pitch suddenly changed the circumstances. After Pohjanpalo’s departure, we decisively moved for Fila, a player we had been following for a long time and who aligns with Venezia’s project, and for Maric, whom I know well from my time at Monza. I am confident that both can make an important contribution in this final stretch of the season.

We have full confidence in the work of coach Di Francesco and his staff, who will be responsible for maximizing the new signings and consolidating the growth of the core group, fighting until the end to achieve our goal.

I want to conclude by thanking our fans, who continue to show affection and dedication to Venezia. We understand their disappointment with our position in the table, but we can assure them that everyone in the club is working with passion and determination to bring them joy.

In the coming months, we will face crucial challenges, starting with Sunday’s match against Roma, for which we will need everyone’s support.
So far, Venezia has shown that it can compete in Serie A. Now, our goal is to earn, together and united, the points necessary to climb the table."