Since the buyout of the club in January 2021 by the American businessman Alexander Knaster, the Pisa Sporting Club has changed its dimension: injections of fresh capital, modernization of structures (Cetilan training center enlarged, internalized data -cutting cell) and recruitment of a sharpening team around the Sports Director Claudio Chiellini Regular – two consecutive qualifications for the play -offs of Serie B, an epic final lost against Monza in 2022, then the promotion won this season. Knaster mainly brought a long -term vision: to bet on a nucleus of young people with high potential, to complete the group with veterans of character, and to renovate the Arena Garibaldi to generate new recipes. After Filippo Inzaghi, the management entrusted the bench to Alberto Gilardino, symbol of a “made in Italy” project turned to an offensive, intense and trainer football. The summer which opens will therefore be crucial: stadium project at 3 million euros to be delivered before the end of August, ambitious transfer window to consolidate each line, and upmarket of the technical staff (athletic preparers from the Federation, video analysts recruited from Serie A clubs). With Knaster for financial guarantor, Gilardino for conductor and a popular enthusiasm found, Pisa approaches the convinced summer truce to be able to cross a new level and, in the long term, settle in the long term from the elite.
In a recent interview with Football and Financethe president, Giuseppe Corrado, had not hidden his excitement: “Pisa and his tower are undoubtedly a reference for any stranger who knows Italy, and it is a value that influenced, as I mentioned, Knaster, who then appreciated our project as a whole. This is why he wanted to accelerate the project of the sports center, because with the international mentality of football actors, it is impossible to imagine a reality without a functional and modern sports center. The second objective was to accelerate and accentuate investments in young talents. He also said to me, “You are doing well, but we must have more courage to invest in talents. Pisa is an international reference for Italy and offers many advantages: the main Tuscan airport, one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world for its artistic and natural beauty, two of the best universities in the world (the École normale supérieure and the Sant'anna, editor's superior school), as well as a hospital and a health center of excellence. In short, we understood that there were important values on which consolidate our marketing and commercial strategies».
The question of the stadium
A real revolution is underway on the side of Pisa, where the municipality and the Club Nerazzurro have embarked on a time-trial race to adapt the legendary Arena Garibaldi stadium to the requirements of Serie A. With the sports promotion obtained, the team led by Alberto Gilardino did not slow the momentum of the club. The work started on June 3 and must be delivered before the end of August, just in time for the start of the season. The site, estimated at around 3 million euros, is financed jointly by the city (1.3 million euros) and by the club, supported by the patron Alexander Knaster, with still 25 % of the capital held by the former president Giuseppe Corrado. The program provides 75 days of uninterrupted work, with continuous vacations, including public holidays, to hold deadlines and offer Pisa an enclosure to the Italian elite standards: “The idea was to stay at Arena Garibaldi from the first day. Our stadium occupies a very important tourist position, because it is 250 meters from the tower of Pisa and, from the center of the field, it can be admired. The fief of Pisa has always existed and must remain so. We are currently finalizing the latest details to launch an important renovation project. Once the final evaluation of the property carried out by the municipality, the company may decide to acquire the building and start the renovation work. It will then be possible to continue the activity of Atalanta and other companies, that is to say to work and continue to have fun on the spot“Said Giuseppe Corrado, President of Pisa.
The fittings are colossal: increased capacity beyond 12,500 places, expansion of the media zones, modernization of the changing rooms, installation of a new tunnel of access to the field, and upgrading of technological infrastructure, in particular the lighting of the stadium, to meet the criteria imposed by the Serie A. The deputy mayor Raffaele Latrofa said that the partition between Curva North and to its original location, thus making it possible to release additional places for local supporters. Part of the South Curva will also be made accessible to the Pisan public, while 1,700 new popular seats will be added for fans. Added to this is the construction of a sports hall for the club, made of prefabricated materials, as well as the creation of new lodges, including 16 covered stations for spectators with disabilities. A major transformation, which could well make Pisa a major attractive pole in Italian football. “”To succeed in selecting talents, it is essential to have an efficient recruitment structure. Today, we believe that Pisa has a recruitment structure comparable to that of the best clubs in the higher categories. The club currently has nearly fifty people working in Italy and internationally. To achieve this, we naturally invested these first two years, in resources and structures, as well as in projects related to the sports center and the stadium“, Detailed Corrado.
A transfer window to dream big
Barely the dust of the subsided stadium site, than Pisa already agitates the transfer window with a series of ambitious and exciting rumors. In attack, the most striking name is undoubtedly that of Giovanni Simeone, currently in Naples, whose possible arrival would have a strong symbolic significance: his father Diego had indeed worn Nerazzur colors during their last season in Serie A under the Anconetani presidency. The club also aims at the return of Alessio Zerbin, also of Naples, author of a convincing loan in Venice, and now coveted by Lecce. Other offensive tracks followed closely: Lorenzo Colombo (Milan, ex-E-EMPoli), Gennaro Borrelli (Brescia), under the radars of Cagliari and Torino, and Antonio Sanabria (Torino), all capable of bringing a precious depth to the Pisan offensive sector. On the corridor side, the interest is also on Alieu Fadera, an explosive winger passed by Côme, and on the New Zealand side Liberato Caccace (Empoli), in the viewfinder of several clubs.
But pisiness ambitions do not stop there: the midfielder is also concerned by several potential movements. Tanner Tessmann, blocked at OL, would be a priority, just like the young Isak Vural, Turkish prodigy who has already been formalized. Henrik Meister could also extend the adventure, with a loan renewal envisaged with Rennes. Mathis Servais, a young Belgian attacking midfielder from Beveren, and the Moroccan Osama Targhalline (Feyenoord), are also one of the supervised profiles. In defense, Pisa explores solid tracks: Edoardo Goldaniga (Côme), Pawel Dawidowicz (at the end of the contract with the Hellas Verona), and the Norwegian Leo Østigård, loaned to Hoffenheim by Rennes. The recruits already made confirm this desire for projection to the future, starting with the promising Brazilian defender Mateus Lusuardi (ex-Frosinone) and the very young Belgian Jeremy Kandje Mbambi, torn from the Gantoise. With such an excitement, the Pisan project seems determined to shake up the hierarchy of Italian football.
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