José Boto wants to change Flamengo's scouting process

The Flamengo officially announced, last Wednesday (15), its first reinforcement for the 2025 season. This is striker Juninho, who was at Qarabag (AZE) and signed a contract with the club until the end of 2028. The hiring process, in However, it involved a direct analysis between technical director José Boto and coach Filipe Luís. Boto, however, intends to modify this process in the next transfer windows.

In an interview with GE, the Portuguese leader detailed the scouting methodology that he intends to implement in Flamengo, something that marked his career at clubs like Shakhtar Donetsk (UCR) and Benfica (POR). According to him, the process used in this window is not what he likes most, and adjustments will be made over time.

"The next [change] is to have a scouting department in my image. I'm not saying that what's there is good or bad, but scouting needs to understand what we want for Flamengo. This takes time, andit's something that also impacted this transfer window, which didn't follow the methodology that it did. I like. The ideal would be for scouting to present us with names, so that we could analyze them calmly", explained Boto.

The director spoke about hiring Juninho, highlighting that it was based on the knowledge that he and Filipe Luís owns the market. For Boto, the correct process would be for scouting to suggest players, and then he and Filipe Luís could evaluate and approve or not the signings.

"This didn't happen in this window, but the next one will be more in line with my vision. The current process, given that we didn't need many reinforcements, it was more influenced by the experience that Filipe and I have, of identifying a player we already knew to reinforce Flamengo", he detailed.

Country Doesn't Matter

At the beginning of negotiations with Juninho, there was certain distrust on the part of some fans, mainly due to the fact that the player was playing for the Azerbaijan. Boto, however, assured that the player's origin is much less relevant than the profile he brings to the team.

"The signing profile will always be the player who fits. Whether he comes from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan or any other country , that's not important. What matters is that you have the profile we're looking for. What I want to implement is that the scouting department provides us with more players like you. Juninho, so that we can observe them, discuss and hire them for Flamengo", he stated.

What needs to change?

Boto reaffirmed that he is not satisfied with the current analysis and process >signingof players, but highlighted that he does not consider Flamengo backwardin this aspect. His aim, however, is to adapt the working system so that it aligns with his philosophy, and he hopes this will be implemented in the next transfer window. For him, this is one of the main focuses.

"I don't think we're too far behind. I think there's an overlap in roles, where some people end up doing the work others. But I'm not in favor of revolutions, I prefer to analyze the situation calmly and make changes when the time is right, with adequate justification", he detailed.

"Of course, one of the areas I'm going to focus heavily on is scouting. And it's not that it works poorly or well , but it needs to work according to my vision and Flamengo's needs and this will need to be done quickly, because I don't want what to happen in the next window. >happened in this, in which we depend on my and Filipe's knowledge, instead of using the structured basis of scouting", he concluded.