In a shrewd move by Nottingham Forest, Benfica’s chief Scout – Pedro Ferreira – has been poached, with the club looking to bolster their recruitment strategy, which is part advised by George Syrianos, the clubs ex-recruitment lead, turned advisor.
Pedro Ferreira, 41, is currently the Chief Scout at Portuguese giants, Benfica, where he has held the post since February 2019, a position he assumed after spending 8 years as both a youth, and senior team scout. After rising up the ranks, the Portuguese recruitment expert is now set for a move north, heading to England to join up with Forest’s recruitment team. He will replace the clubs former head of scouting, Andy Scott, who was fired from his position last season.
New reports from ‘A Bola’ this afternoon shared that the well acclaimed scout is on his way to Forest at the end of the season following a hugely successful spell at Benfica, which in the last few years has seen the club rake in hundreds of million’s of pounds from academy success, and clever recruitment. Regardless of Forest’s position in the Premier League, the club want to sure up the clubs recruitment strategy, and create a strong structure – with previous reports stating that the club were “inspired” by Tony Bloom’s project at Brighton, which has seen huge profits from player sales, and success as a result of their financial decisions, especially in the recruitment department.
So, Who is Pedro Ferreira?
Pedro Ferreira is a professional coach, and most recently scout, who works for Portuguese side Benfica, now as the clubs chief scout, as mentioned before a role he assumed in 2019 following the departure of former chief scout Tomás Amaral six years ago.
Notably, Benfica is recognised as one of the most outstanding clubs for player transfer fees received, with the club making £336m from the academy players sold since 2015 – in 2023 making the club the worlds most profitable, beating the likes of Real Madrid & Monaco in the process.
In that time between 2015, and now, Ferreira played a part in scouting for Benfica, as the area around – Lisbon – has, as Academy Director Pedro Mils-Homens describes a “small catchment area” [BBC Sport], and that the club have to be screwed in their business, and use a vast scouting network to procure talent from across the world, in the last few years seeing the most success in South America. Two of the most popular examples could be that of Enzo Fernandes – for whom the club scouted from River Plate – and Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez who came from Almeria, Spain, a South American example who rose up the ranks in Spain, before being found by Benfica.
The role of chief scout, especially at a club like Benfica which relies on smart recruitment to survive as a top team in an area with a small population, is not a role that is simply given on small merit. Ferreira’s persistence, initially working as a youth coach for UA Povoense, and working his way up saw him continue to show his skill in the recruitment department & coaching of youngsters, and later given the opportunity in the first team as chief – a huge compliment from those above at Benfica.
Why is he leaving?
While some of the reasons may be withheld, the reasons cited by A Bola – a Portuguese news outlet covering all sports in the country – suggests that the club is undergoing a major restructure of its recruitment department, and as part of that, departures are underway.
As mentioned previously, Tomás Amaral’s departure from the scouting team, where he held the position as one of the Chief Scout’s until 2023, was somewhat the start of an eventual restructure – himself & Joaquin Pinto, an experienced coach, both joined Spartak Moscow, assuming the roles of Sporting Director’s at the Russian side.
Ferreira will now take on a new role at the City Ground, and after a turbulent few years for the clubs recruitment department, he will look to restructure, and build strong foundations for success at the club in said department, and ensure that those aspirations of being a club like Brighton aren’t simply dreams, but achieveable goals.
The Portuguese scout will now work alongside counterpart Nuno Espírito Santo, and his team of experts looking ahead to the Summer, with Forest looking for a more shrewd & small strategy, with the aim of adding more quality to the first team, and indeed adding depth, particularly in the defence, and in the striker position.
*Article provided by Jamie Martin (Head Nottingham Forest Correspondent).
*Main image @SLBenfica Pedro Ferreira has played a key part in Benfica’s buying strategy.
