INTERVIEW
Tricolor’s football director spoke about the number of signings and the fight for titles
Published on December 13, 2024 at 3:12 pm
Cadu Santoro is responsible for hiring at Bahia Credit: FELIPE OLIVEIRA/EC Bahia
After a year in which they achieved their best campaign in the history of the Brasileirão in terms of points and qualified for the Copa Libertadores, Bahia is now planning the 2025 season. In an interview with journalist Elton Serra, from ESPN, the football director of tricolor, Cadu Santoro, spoke about the Squadron’s planning and strengthening the team to compete in the next competitions.
According to him, conversations had already started before the end of the Brasileirão, but the club had to wait until the last round to find out which championships it would compete in next year before thinking about signings.
“The budget is one for a South American and another for the Libertadores, even though we know that it is still a preliminary phase, which we need to overcome to enter the group stage, but we have certainly been looking, debating the planning for a few weeks and we intensified the conversations after the triumph over Atlético-GO”, he began.
According to the leader, the attack will be one of Bahia’s priorities, but other sectors will also be reinforced. Although Cadu did not mention names, CORREIO found that in recent days the Squadron made a proposal for Paraguayan center forward Isidro Pitta, from Cuiabá. Negotiation is considered difficult due to the high values requested by the Central-West team. The tricolor is also looking for a goalkeeper to fight for the starting position.
Bahia won a place in the Libertadores after 35 years away from the competition Credit: Letícia Martins/EC Bahia
“For sure [o ataque é prioridade]. We know that we need to reinforce, further enhance the level of the squad. It’s a different calendar, often when assembling the squad we try to find athletes for each position, but also athletes who play in more than one position. This, in the coach’s view, is often important. We understand, it’s a very long year, there are a lot of matches, the calendar still suffers even more than those who are on the axis, because there are flights, distances, we travel many more kilometers than other teams”, he stated. he, before completing:
“One thing to value was the integration between the technical committee and the performance and health department, there is a global methodology, which we adapt to the local market, but we managed to end up with one of the teams that is in the top-3 among those that had fewer injuries. This is important for us to make decisions about the number of athletes, but also in relation to the profile of each signing.
NUMBER OF HIRING
We understand that this window is more important than the middle of the year, that this year will be different due to the shutdown [das competições durante o Mundial de Clubes]. So, I think the championship will be divided a little, we have to understand, clubs that suddenly won’t be so good in the first half can improve in the second half, but the first window is always more important. The second window is where we make specific moves, except in the case of Iago Borduchi, who was a player at the end of his contract, who we found as an alternative and therefore decided to wait. I even understand the risks, there was Juba, Rezende who could play in that position, Cicinho who had already played there not only in the {Ludogorets]team, but in the national team [da Bulgária].
We’ve been thinking about all of this. I’m not going to open up about the quantity, but what we seek is to be assertive in hiring. This culture of reformulation, of exchange, is not our work profile. We did this from 2022 to 2023 very aggressively, as we understood that to go from Series B to Series A we needed to change the profile. in 2024 we reduced the quantity considerably, and now in 2025 we have to find the needs, the ends of contracts, the replacements, the exits that naturally occur and are important to increase revenue, it is part of the work. But we have to be ready to act, replace, maintain and improve the level of the squad.
EVALUATION OF ROGÉRIO CENI’S WORK
We all know the responsibility we have for next year, to deliver achievements, titles, in the end that’s what matters, it’s the valley. Like Rogério [Ceni] He tells the athletes: “these are the pictures on the wall”. I think this is fundamental. We did something important, the athletes gave us a place in the Libertadores, but it is just a step. What really stands out are the achievements.
