Sniper Johnny Calafat .. How does Real Madrid control the talents of South America?

• Date: March 5, 2022

• The event: Real Madrid faces its counterpart Real Sociedad in the Spanish League rounds

Winning the three points of the match was important for Real Madrid, as it was able to sit at the top of the League after the difference between it and its closest rivals - Seville - increased to a full 8 points, so the match gained not a few fans.

In the end, the "Carlo Ancelotti" battalion won, and "Eduardo Camavinga" scored a beautiful goal, so the fans of the Spanish giant celebrated the youngster who was still making his way, then "Luka Modric" scored a goal no less beautiful, the voice of the fans cheering the legend who is still making History is not enough yet (1).

It was a good night for everyone who belongs to the Meringue, but it meant something else to someone, and it was the culmination of his efforts in serving the Royal Club over the years.

Perhaps not many know him, and his name is rarely mentioned in the media, but he was there in the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, watching the match, which saw the presence of 5 players he succeeded in including, and they are now participating as essential elements.

Perhaps their fate would have been to play for other clubs, such as Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United and Barcelona, ​​had it not been for the presence of the chief scout and talent sniper in Madrid, "Johnny Calafat".

When Neymar slipped through Florentino Perez's fingers

Brazilian Neymar (left) plays with Mexican Gil Cordero (right) at the FIFA U-17 World Cup Nigeria 2009 (Reuters)

To get to know Mr. Calafat's story with Real Madrid, we have to go back to 2005. Why this particular date?

Because he witnessed the first real connection between "Neymar" and European football.

It is true that he was not over thirteen years old at the time, but he was on a plane heading to the Spanish capital at the invitation of the president of Real Madrid personally, "Florentino Perez" (2).

The reason is that Neymar was already very famous, and the European clubs knew that this boy had everything to become an amazing player in a few years.

It may be the awaited episode of the series of Brazilians who rose to the top of the world before winning the Ballon d'Or, the series that started with "Romario", then "Ronaldo" and even "Ronaldinho".

All this tempted "Florentino" to obtain Neymar from now, hoping to build a new Galacticos around him in the future, and to avoid entering fierce competition with other clubs as soon as his star emerges.

To this end, the president prepared a fictional program for the little boy's visit. We do not say "imaginary" as an exaggeration, but we really mean the word.

The boy stayed with his father in a luxury hotel for three full weeks, and trained at the club's academy, and the program also included the opportunity to meet two first-team players, and dine with a third player.

The first is "Zinedine Zidane", the second is called "Ronaldo Nazario", and the third is called "Robinho".

This was not all, but the club also offered his father a stable job, and promised to take care of the boy's educational path, as well as provide a private home for the family, all of which will be done once the boy joins the royal club (3).

It was an offer that could not be rejected, and the family was about to accept it, before he entered the Brazilian club Santos, for whom the boy was playing on the line.

The club somehow succeeded in spoiling everything, especially after he persuaded Neymar's mother to reject all these temptations, not to sign Perez's contracts, and to postpone the idea of ​​European professionalism later (4).

Santos' Kleber Pereira celebrates with teammates Madison (right) and Neymar (centre) after scoring against Fluminense during the Brazil Championship soccer match in Rio de Janeiro on May 24, 2009. (Reuters)

Florentino must have been disappointed, but he certainly did not lose his desire to include the boy. The biggest proof of this is what happened 4 years after that date, when two lawyers arrived in the samba country, carrying a mandate from him with the aim of completing one task: to obtain On Neymar.

Of course, the task is now more difficult than before, simply because the boy is no longer just a talented youngster, but the expected star of Santos, and then the club’s management has become more intransigent, and players’ agents and sponsorship companies that have rights to Neymar have entered into the equation, and of course it no longer constitutes obtaining A good job in Madrid no incentive for his father.

The two men spent 11 days in Brazil, and entered into meetings with the Santos administration, agents and family, but returned to Spain with nostalgia (5).

It seemed as if Neymar was slipping away little by little between Perez's fingers, especially with the offers of "Roman Ibrahimovic" that rushed to kidnap the Brazilian youngster, but the matter turned into something else when Barcelona settled the deal in his favour in 2013. Not only did Neymar escape, but he went To the camp of the archenemy of the Meringue, it was like a slap to the pride of Mr. Florentino.

Now we hear you say: What does Johnny Calafat have to do with all this?

Don't worry, we'll tell you right away.

Player, Commentator, Friend, Scout, History Teacher

The hero of our story was a witness to all these stages. Jose Antonio Calafat de Souza, also known as "Johnny Calafat", was interested in Real Madrid's activity in the transfer market, especially when targeting a Brazilian player.

Perhaps the reason for this is the origins of "Johnny" Brazilian, it is true that he was born in Spain, but he grew up in São Paulo, before returning again to Madrid and beginning his mysterious and exciting journey at the same time (6).

At first, Johnny played futsal, a game that appeals to Latinos because of the margin it allows for individual skill.

After that, he moved to work in the media and the press, where he was picked up by television channels because of his knowledge of South American football, and his mastery of the Portuguese language, of course.

He began to gain some popularity as a commentator and specialist in Brazilian football after appearing on the famous "Canal plus" channel (7).

Juni calafat is the best thing to happen to real madrid since modric.

The man behind the signings of vinicius, militao, valverde, odegaard, rodrygo and now working on endrick and Tchouaméni and other top talents.

pic.twitter.com/ADPFPy2d7o

— Militao Szn (@imadridista101) January 27, 2022

Most important of all was his success in making friends with the most important Brazilian professionals who came to Madrid.

Sometimes the relationship of the media person with the player is very vulgar, as the former begins to flatter, and sometimes hypocrisy, until he claims his friendship with a particular player, and in return the latter decides to reward him with an exclusive statement or dialogue.

Johnny's relationship with players was not of that kind, but was characterized by true friendship and friendship, as he goes to play tennis with "Ronaldo Nazario", travels with "Roberto Carlos", and "Kaka" takes him to play a charity match. Indeed, the Brazilian UOL network says that the trust of These players helped him to engage more in the circles of the capital club (8).

Therefore, it does not seem strange that our friend is interested in Meringue’s association with Neymar, until some reports confirmed that “Calafat” tried to lure the Brazilian player to the club’s ranks in 2013, before he collide with the amount of commissions that should be paid to agents, advertisers and even relatives in order to include him (9).

It is true that Real Madrid did not complete the deal in his favour, but this failure was a turning point in the club's strategy and in the life of Mr. "Johnny" as well.

As "Florentino Perez" saw that Real Madrid's financial capabilities would not be able to keep pace with the new risers.

In the past, Chelsea, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain were not able to compete with Meringue, but the club was making brilliant deals because of its economic superiority, but today, in light of the rise of what is known as petrodollar clubs, this superiority in that race is no longer guaranteed, especially after the brutality The transfer market in South America has become very complex and difficult, and the club needs to pay huge commissions to everyone around the player, from his agent to his father, and perhaps also his neighbor and nephew (10).

Florentino Perez (Getty Images)

Peres saw that the solution lies in one step ahead of everyone. How is that?

By obtaining the distinguished talent early, so he will not have to pay that crazy money, and at the same time he has a young candidate to be the next big star after a few years.

This idea is not new, and it must have crossed the minds of the officials of the rest of the clubs, but what will make it a viable solution is "Johnny Calafat", who will now turn to work as a scout for talents.

This continuous change in his career path is similar to that comedy scene from the movie “The Nazer”, where Professor Zakaria Al-Dardiri, played by the late “Youssef Eid”, works as a teacher of mathematics and sometimes the French language until the school appoints a new teacher, but he is forced due to school conditions To adapt himself to teaching a new subject, which is history.

A rookie named Casemiro, a scout named Paulinho

There are two reasons that prompted Real Madrid to take charge of "Calafat" in finding promising talent: the first is that he knows Latinos in general, and Brazilians in particular, he understands what they want and how they think, and he excels in forming good relations with all footballers, from the club director to the player.

The second reason is that he built bridges of trust with the administration, specifically "José Antonio Sanchez", who is considered the second man in Madrid after the president (11).

Johnny started his career as a scout for the reserve team, and decided to focus on pursuing talent from the country he knew well: Brazil, so Casemiro was one of the first names he nominated to join the Castilla team.

Fortunately for him, club officials, and then coach Jose Mourinho, were enthusiastic about the young midfielder, and gave the green light to get him from Sao Paulo in January 2013 (12).

Casemiro (Reuters)

The newcomer achieved remarkable success, and this success contributed to earning "Calafat" a good reputation, with more powers within the Merengue (13).

Not more than a year passed until "Johnny" included four other players from the Brazilian League, they are: "Wilian Jose", "Pablo Teixeira", "Abner", and finally "Lucas Silva" (14).

Perhaps you do not know them, and you may not have heard of them before, because this quartet did not achieve anything, and it disappointed all expectations and hopes, especially those of our friend.

Of course, it was obvious that criticism would escalate against him after this failure, but the Madrid administration decided not to pay attention to it, and renewed confidence in "Johnny", and even now a group of scouts is working under his hand. Why?

Perhaps because he set out to build a solid ground in South America based on a network of strong relationships with players’ agents, youth coaches and of course club administrators, and this is precisely what Real Madrid wants, to become his path paved when he wants to include a player, even if there are some losses in return. Indeed, these losses will bring the club a profit later, as Calafat will benefit from his relationship with the agent of one of these four players in an important deal later.

As for his work style, the Spanish newspaper ABC confirms that “Johnny” follows hundreds of clips of young players from all over the world, and then spends his time gathering information through what the newspaper describes as his “network of spies”, who are scouts and mediators from every country. They communicate with him daily, and finally he travels in complete secrecy to evaluate the target player and resolve matters in favor of the Royal Club (15).

The fruit of these efforts appeared clearly when in 2015 he succeeded in attracting the talent sought after by most European clubs: “Martin Odegaard”, and then the following year he achieved a victory for Real Madrid over his counterpart Barcelona, ​​after he won the signature of “Fede Valverde” with only five million euros (16). .

Fede Valverde (Getty Images)

Since we have mentioned the "Network of Spies", there is a name that is necessary to refer to, which is "Paulo Henrique Chaffer".

The importance of "Paulinho", as he is known in Brazil, stems from his work for years with the Brazilian Confederation and local clubs, and he was even a member of the coaching staff of the Olympic team that won the gold in Rio 2016. "Chavir" has a strong relationship with the coaches of the youth teams, and he can provide all the information The task is about the promising youngster, so when he became one of “Johnny Calafat” men in 2017, and he resigned from working for Manchester United, UOL described the news as follows: “Real Madrid is stealing one of the most important local scouts” (17).

Battle of minds and hearts

The hero of our story rose to the position of director of international contracts in Real Madrid, to increase his privileges and not be limited to the reserve team only, and his roles reach the point of negotiating directly with the clubs after obtaining the approval of the first and second men, but the promotion also increased his desire to include the junior who He could take charge of Real Madrid's attack.

Johnny knew Vinicius Jr. before his 16th birthday, and realized that the competition for him would not be easy as time passed, so he set about working on that deal early.

Rodrigo Kitano, the sporting director of the Flamengo club where the boy plays, says he was surprised by the amount of information Calafat knew about Junior and his family (18).

Vinicius Jr (Getty Images)

This was the result of the news he received from his men in Brazil, before he made ten visits there over the course of 14 months (19).

The purpose of these visits was to meet "Vinicius" and his representatives, to talk to them about all the details of moving to Madrid, and to explain how the club could provide the appropriate environment for the boy to develop at all levels, and of course convey to them the extent of the officials' interest in joining "Junior".

This is how "Johnny" gains the player's confidence, and even becomes his friend, and then guarantees his loyalty when he goes to negotiate with his club, so he has the advantage.

It happened again with Rodrigo Goes, you may not be surprised when we tell you that Johnny has been following him since he was thirteen, and he receives reports from Paulinho about the development of his performance in the junior categories.

The surprise is that the young player's agent, Nick Arcuri, was an agent for one of the four players we told you about in the previous paragraph, and he has a wonderful relationship with Calafat.

Arcuri confirms that Barcelona, ​​Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund all sought Rodrygo, but Johnny made the difference for Madrid.

The reason for this, according to the agent, is due to Calafat's professionalism and seriousness, and his keenness to overcome all obstacles in front of the target player (20).

Rodrigo Goes (Getty Images)

The third of them was "Rainier Jesus", a youngster who impressed the club scouts, and the first of them was certainly "Paulo Chaver".

Paulinho wanted to steer Reinier to Madrid years ago, even before he was promoted to the Flamengo first team at the age of seventeen, and he must have encouraged Calafat to move for him (21).

The royal was not the first to be interested in getting him, but was preceded by Atletico Madrid, as the newspaper “Marca” indicates that City and Paris offered him a greater salary, but “Johnny” assured the player’s representatives that Real Madrid would be the most appropriate destination, and he got what he wanted. (22).

Rainer Jesus (Getty Images)

There is a stereotype that may not be accurate about the Brazilian teenager and his family, which is that they are only looking for money.

It is true that the financial compensation is very important, but it is not the only criterion on which decisions are based. There are things that the family considers, such as adapting to a different country, graduating from the youth categories to the first team, the minutes of playing and the participations that the player receives, and the club’s interest in the future of the club. nascent.

Johnny Calafat's main strength was to convince the player and his family, or as Jack Lang, editor of The Athletic puts it, to tip Madrid in the battle of minds and hearts(23).

“Vinicius”, “Rodrigo” and “Rainier” are the most prominent Brazilian talents born in 2000, 2001 and 2002, respectively, and our friend succeeded in attracting them for 120 million euros, and perhaps if “Perez” waited for another year or two, he would have to pay this number for Only one player (24).

So, will one of them succeed in fulfilling the hopes placed in leading the royal attack in the future?

We do not know, but what is certain is Real Madrid's ability to attract South American talent thanks to the work of "Johnny Calafat", who is putting the final touches on the completion of the inclusion of a new youngster named "Andric Felipe", who will be seen by the hero of our story from the stands of Santiago Bernabeu one day, as he does with whom preceded by (25).

————————————————————————

Sources