Pantaleo Corvino, the current sporting director of Lecce, played a key role in discovering Dusan Vlahovic during a scouting trip to Belgrade in 2017 while working for Fiorentina. Corvino was initially there to assess Nikola Milenkovic, but was quickly impressed by the then-17-year-old Vlahovic, who was already making waves in the Partizan Belgrade youth system and had recently debuted for the first team.
At the time, several clubs, including Arsenal and Juventus, were monitoring Vlahovic’s progress. Corvino, known for identifying talents like Vucinic and Bojinov earlier in his career, swiftly initiated negotiations with Partizan and, crucially, with the player’s family, particularly his mother, Sladjana. He reportedly reassured her, stating Vlahovic would follow in the footsteps of Gabriel Batistuta at Fiorentina – a comparison that resonated with the family.
Due to Vlahovic being a minor, the initial agreement was a preliminary contract worth €1.5 million, with the transfer becoming official when he turned 18 in February of the following year. Fiorentina initially intended for Vlahovic to join their Primavera youth team, even though it meant using a valuable non-EU player slot. There was some internal debate about the cost of acquiring a relatively unknown young player, but the gamble ultimately paid off.
Vlahovic quickly established himself as a key player for Fiorentina, scoring 44 goals in 98 appearances. He received support from fellow players, including Stevan Jovetic, who allowed him to stay in his Florentine home and offered guidance. Vlahovic was later sold by Fiorentina to Juventus in 2022 for a fee of approximately €80 million, a return of over 50 times the initial investment. While Corvino and Vlahovic’s direct contact diminished after Corvino’s departure from Fiorentina and the club’s change of ownership, they have continued to express mutual respect for one another.
