From The Press Box: David Amoyal

In the latest in our series discussing key topics with members of the media, transfer specialist and Serie A writer David Amoyal joins us to discuss the major issues surrounding the league right now.

We spoke to Amoyal about how he got into the business of football journalism, along with his views on how transfer activity might look very different for clubs around Europe this summer...

First of all, David, we learned this week when exactly Serie A will restart. How excited are you for the return to action?

“I'm very excited at the prospect of some some normalcy. The idea of having routines, with games coming back.

“I am a little bit concerned with the format of the current season - but I also understand that, you know, these are unprecedented times and these clubs have to come up with unprecedented solutions.

“So although some of the things that we hear might sound really out of the ordinary, it's important to remember we are dealing with everything being out of the ordinary.”

So is there one thing you're most looking forward to in particular, or just the fact that calcio is back in general?

“Yeah, I have to say that I've already seen some conspiracy theories about Juventus having some advantages. So I love that it’s not skipping a beat - I'm looking forward to the banter between fans - that is probably the one that I'm looking forward to the most.”

How do you think the long enforced delay, along with the new condensed schedule, will affect things?

“You know, it almost feels like we are starting a season from scratch, in a lot of ways. It's like when the teams get ready in August and the first few games are a little clunky. We will see a lot of that, I think.

“I think obviously a format like this, where teams are playing so many games a week, is going to favour teams with a bigger squad depth and whatnot - so I think we are definitely going to see a shift in terms of how the new schedule affects things.

“I think we need to accept that it’s all going to be very different. It's not just about finishing the season, there are some really long-term implications for clubs if we don't get some games in. I think there's too much focus on just the 2019-20 season - I think we need to think more of the long term impact and I think getting some of these games in - if we get them all in - I see it as more important for the long-term health of the league, as opposed to what it says about this season.

“Because, let's be honest, no matter what happens, the results would almost certainly have been different if we had kept on playing in March, right? We are in a completely different reality now, so I think we just need to accept that it's different, but that it also might help in the long term.”

So do you think there'll be some teams better equipped to cope with this change than others?

“Squad depth is definitely important to help teams, so I think the teams that went into the season knowing that we're going to compete on a lot of fronts and that they needed a lot of quality back-ups are going to have an advantage.

“I almost wonder, you know, if teams in different parts of Italy, are going to be impacted in different ways because we know the virus and the pandemic, for instance in the north it’s so much worse than other parts of Italy. So you also wonder… I'm not saying it's an advantage, it's just it's going to be different.”

You made your reputation with transfer talk and information. What have you been hearing during this current period, and has uncertainty made clubs less active, or is it changed the way they're approaching the market?

“Great question. In general, I think transfers are going to look very, very different. In short, I think, you know, deals involving big cash transfers for a player - I think they'll still happen, but nowhere near to the extent that we are used to seeing.

“Now, what I do think we will see a lot of are the swap deals, like the one we saw last season between Leonardo Spinazzola and Luca Pellegrini with Juventus. It helps both teams’ financial statements tremendously, so I think we are actually going to see a lot of deals like that - swaps between teams both within Serie A and abroad.

“You know, it also would not surprise me if we see loan deals just being extended and continued into next season. Because cash is at such a premium for clubs in general. I will say that for a while, a lot of the transfer rumours that I saw, and I say this with the utmost respect for sites that handle it differently, but I felt like it came more from a desire to have something to talk about.

“I just have had a hard time imagining clubs doing some very specific and concrete talks on transfers, especially a few weeks ago. Maybe now there's a little more clarity, but when there was so much financial uncertainty I think it was a bit optimistic.”

Back to your beginnings, then. How did you get your start into football journalism?

“Let me begin by saying that you know, any time someone refers to me as a journalist I get pretty uncomfortable. Because I work with great reporters, like really some of the best in the business, and I would never want anyone to confuse what I do with what Gianluca Di Marzio and Fabrizio Romano do - those guys are great reporters.

“How all that started, though; I’ve always had a big passion for transfers. When I play FIFA, I probably spend more time on career mode, building my team and doing all that. But even well before video games when I was a little kid, I used to always try to write out all the transfer moves every team and thought about which teams should do what - I used to do that from a really young age.

“Football is not my main job - I work in finance - but this is just a hobby that became a second job in the past five years and I've always enjoyed writing, and having opinions.

“So I started writing more about opinions on calcio, and then Di Marzio started really coming on to the scene with transfers and I noticed that as far as I'm concerned, in the world of transfers it's very rare to find really reliable news that is right – and he was really coming up with transfer scoops. When he broke the story that Pep Guardiola was going to Bayern Munich, this was a while ago now, I got in touch with him and told him he really should have his news in English too.

“At first he was very reticent, telling me, ‘I don't think there's a market for this’. And I told him I really think you should try this. Give me a chance. And, look, I knew he's great at his job, I knew that if I work with the right person, and I believed in myself that it could open some doors for me. So, the first summer I worked on Di Marzio’s English page, and that whole summer I literally hardly did anything else but update the site with transfers. It was a lot of work but it was really worth it because it taught me discipline and whatnot. It kind of gave me my own platform.

“Through that, that opened up a lot of doors – and again, that's thanks to Di Marzio’s reliability. It opened doors for me and then before I knew it, I was writing for ESPN - which you know was always a dream of mine. I grew up idolising Bill Simmons and it was always like my dream is to write for ESPN. Thanks to the popularity of Di Marzio’s English page, I got the opportunity there.

“Then I started writing for The Athletic for a while, which was great. And, you know, the dedication that I had to put in the first few years was definitely worth that because that's really what opened a lot of doors for me. But then I also knew that anything I put out has to be quality because I knew people are only going to listen to me for so long, because I work with Di Marzio. If they check out my work and it's not good, they're not going to keep reading it just because I work with Di Marzio.

"So he gave me the opportunity. And I'd like to think I've made something out of it.”

Okay, so if you had any advice for an up and comer right now what would your best piece of advice be and why?

“There's no shortcuts to hard work, that’s number one. If you work hard, you're going to get better, and that's the most important thing, regardless of what happens with it.

“The only way you're going to get good at whatever it may be: writing a column, having a podcast, reporting… the only way you are going to get good is by putting in a lot of work. And I think it's also really important to be teachable. I think if you are lucky enough to have someone give you feedback - as long as you feel like that person kind of has your best interests at heart, as difficult as it can be, it’s very important to be able to take feedback.”

So specifically from Di Marzio, what have you learned from him and how he approaches the same sort of line of work?

“This is a relationship business - so it’s very important to have strong relationships, treat people with dignity and respect, and make contacts.

“And I'll just share with you one piece of advice that he's given me - in a specific situation. Juve were in the last Champions League final. I'm not a reporter but once in a while, you know, I do know a lot of people that can share news.

“I got news from someone that I knew was legit news that Dani Alves was leaving Juve and that was going to be his last game at the club. And instead of tweeting it, It was the day of the Champions League final so I contacted Gianluca and I was like, ‘Hey, do you have this’ - and he was really impressed because he does not get impressed easily - he told me ‘Wow, that's a big scoop,’ but he goes, ‘Do me a favor, don't tweet it until after the game, like we don't want to take the attention away from the Champions League final.’

"So that the lesson taught me that I'm sure there's a lot of stuff that Gianluca knows that he’s not tweeting – because it’s about maintaining relationships in the future too.”

Specifically about Serie A, where does that interest come from - did it come from a young age?

“So I grew up in Italy - my mother's from New York, my father's French and I moved to Italy when I was really young, when my parents’ divorced. And this was the 80s and I always say a lot of people say that calcio’s heyday was the 90s and early 2000s.

“As far as I'm concerned, though, the 80s was the apex of calcio, so when I was living in Italy. I got really swept in to the cultural thing so like the late 80s. I was really into it. I was going to watch the local team, like we weren't in Serie A or anything like that, but I really really got into it. So you know, I've had the passion, ever since, and you know I always like to tell people that anytime someone asked me you know what's the best league, my answer is always the one that you have an emotional attachment to.”

Which teams or players so far have made a particular impression on you this season?

“So definitely Sandro Tonali - because, I will say, I am really skeptical whenever I hear about these great young products. I need to see it with my own eyes, but he's certainly impressed me.

“I have to say with Chris Smalling, the way he adapted to Serie A has really impressed me and the person that he is, I think he is superb. Lautaro Martinez this season has really impressed me. There was something about him right away that I that I felt really drawn to and he’s lived up to it. I also have this love for [Romelu] Lukaku, both as a player but especially as a person, for sure.

“It's been really refreshing. And I will say I'm also really impressed with Robin Olsen, who was such a disaster last season. Yeah, it's a nice feel good story that he's actually been really quite good. It’s a comeback story of sorts?

Any teams in particular?

“For years you could look at Lazio and their individual players and be like, well, you know, I always felt with last year you took their five best players you would take their five best players almost against anyone in Italy. But for whatever reason, it never really worked as a team, but this year everything kind of clicked and worked - so definitely been impressed with them.

“Verona have been really impressive, I think. Going into the season I had them as pretty much a lock to be relegated and look at how well they've done - so they've certainly impressed me quite a bit.

“I didn't think Atalanta were going to be able to repeat their season last year, and not only did they repeat it they actually got better. So, if I had to say one I would say Atalanta, because I think the hardest thing is going from good to great; I think going from average to good is hard, but it's harder to take that next step and I think that Atalanta has kind of done it.”

Okay, and what have you made specifically Roma this season, especially under Paulo Fonseca?

“So I will say that I was very impressed with Fonseca, at the beginning, very impressed. I thought he had a great philosophy, I thought Roma were playing really well and they had an identity.

“And I know there was a lot of injuries, so I'm going to chalk it up to that, that perhaps he had to be more conservative. I have friends of mine that are journalists in Italy that would say that, you know, Fonseca got swayed by Italy and started being more defensive. Maybe that was because of the injuries.

“Overall, I've been pretty I've been impressed with him. Going into the season I had concerns on who was going to score goals, and the defence has clearly been a lot better than I thought it would be.

“It's kind of sad because I feel like [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan was really coming on before the break. He was starting to show a lot. But overall I’ve liked Fonseca and I really would have liked to see what he would have done without all the injuries.”

Okay, so the main questions are over, but we want to end it on three big predictions - surprise player, surprise team and surprise transfer that you think is going to happen this summer…

"Wow. Okay. So I think for the rest of the season I think we'll see Atalanta is going to really surprise us in a good way. I think they also have the extra motivation from the city of Bergamo, which was so devastated by what happened. I think they're going to be extra motivated and they were already kind of hitting on all cylinders before all this happened, they are really going to surprise us in a good way.

“I'm going to go all in on Mkhitaryan as my surprise player. I liked everything that I saw about him right before the break, and I'm not the biggest Cengiz Under fan but I really like what I've seen from him as well.

“And I think we are going to see a big swap deal that is going to really, really surprise us, and without even saying the players I think what we're going to see is we're going to see a deal that's going to be very head-scratching from a sporting perspective, we're going to say this really doesn't make much sense for the team.

“But financially it makes a ton of sense, because I think a lot of teams have to be very careful with their finances - so I've been thinking that there is going to be a big swap that the reaction is going to be, ‘I can't believe this team did this’ - but then we're going to look at the financials and we'll realise why it makes sense.”


David Amoyal is a football writer, specialising in Serie A.

You can follow him on Twitter here.