The key is always the same: raise the level through the market, including through scouting. CEO Giovanni Carnevali explained the thinking at Tuesday morning’s shareholders’ meeting. “I made only one choice, bringing Ricky Massara alongside Marco Ottolini. We are creating a new scouting team that did not exist before. We need a global project, and it is necessary to improve.”
The intent is to return to the origins, observing talents up close, understanding every aspect of them and looking people in the eye. That is exactly what happens tonight, because AZ Alkmaar have some talent of their own, and one in particular has been on Massara and Ottolini’s list for several months: Bendegúz Kovács, currently the greatest Hungarian talent and one of the most interesting young players in the Eredivisie.
Kovács’s Profile
Born in 2007, the same year as Kerim Alajbegović, Kovács is a striker with great physical impact. He is 1.99 metres tall but also has excellent technique. The comparison with Zlatan Ibrahimović is obvious and inevitable, and for Bendegúz it is more than a label: Ibrahimović was his idol as a child, and a model to aspire to.
His highest aspiration now is to establish himself at AZ, the club where he made his name after taking his first steps at Debrecen and after Ajax let him leave on a free transfer in 2025.
Juventus’s Interest
Juventus moved in the summer to assess the feasibility of a permanent deal, taking advantage of his expiring contract. But Kovács then renewed with AZ until 2029, with an option for another year, and the deal was postponed. His name has never left the shortlist of Massara and Ottolini, and it may return to prominence in the coming months.
As for the price, Tuttosport’s answer is that it “depends.” The Dutch club are counting heavily on his talent, which suggests they would not sell cheaply.
How It Fits the January Picture
The profile addresses a need that has run through this period: a centre-forward with physical presence, which Spalletti himself described after Lecce as essential in a game played “open-field, all-out.” Kovács is a different type of candidate from Raimondo, the Frosinone striker linked to January, since he is younger, taller and more expensive to extract.
It also sits uneasily beside the more cynical view of Woltemade from Moggi and Capello, who said the German is not a relative of the young Ibrahimović. Whether a 19-year-old from Debrecen is a plausible successor to Kolo Muani in the long term is a question for the summer. For tonight, Massara and Ottolini will simply be watching one of their targets at close quarters.
