Bologna: Lewis Ferguson & Joshua Zirkzee at heart of Champions League bid
"No-one is going anywhere in January, we want to do something important."
The words of Bologna's chief executive Claudio Fenucci at the end of December, with the team surprisingly sitting fourth, now sound like a prophecy.
Who would have expected Bologna to still be there, with only seven games left to play and a haul of 58 points, more than they collected in the whole of last season?
The result is a city on the verge of madness. The Stadio Dall'Ara is regularly sold out.
It's unusual, at least for Bologna, to be on a run of eight wins in 10 games, to have the second-best home record in the division, to beat Fiorentina, Torino, Roma, Lazio and Atalanta, to scare AC Milan and Inter at the San Siro and come away with a deserved point against both, and to eliminate the Nerazzurri from the Coppa Italia.
They follow a recipe with the ingredients of competence and common sense.
"Qualifying for the Champions League would demonstrate that, with a serious club at the back, the right people in the technical area and a tight-knit group of players, it's possible to do something extraordinary," Fenucci said.
"This could inspire other clubs too."
Zirkzee and Ferguson the stars
Bologna have switched from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-1-4-1 formation but what has remained unchanged is their spirit.
The team play as a unit, aggressive without the ball and direct going forward.
The squad includes some experienced players in key positions, such as Polish goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski and former Nottingham Forest midfielder Remo Freuler, but consists mainly of keen youngsters with great potential.
The star is Joshua Zirkzee, central striker and advanced playmaker all in one.
"I should score more, and when I can't I am upset with myself," he recently said.
No-one in town is complaining though. With 10 goals and four assists in 29 games, he is the Serie A surprise of the season.
In the Coppa Italia against Inter, he provided two artful assists - he is calm with the ball and spots spaces others do not.
Scottish midfielder Lewis Ferguson, the team's captain, is from a footballing family - his father Derek and uncle Barry both played for Rangers.
He seems to have an ability to be everywhere at once; one moment helping out in defence, the next joining the attack.
His haul of 13 goals, six of which came this season, made him the most prolific Scot in Serie A history - surpassing even the great Denis Law.
Riccardo Calafiori, both a centre-back and a defensive playmaker, is another key component in the side. He is only 21, but don't be surprised if he makes the Italy squad for Euro 2024.
Former Inter midfielder Giovanni Fabbian is also a great prospect. One year younger than Calafiori, he has marked his debut Serie A season with five goals.
Motta the 'best manager in Italy'
If the late Sinisa Mihajlovic's work was fundamental to creating the team's mentality, Bologna as we know them now were born in the summer of 2022, with the arrivals of technical director Giovanni Sartori and manager Thiago Motta.
Arrigo Sacchi, who knows his football, said of the latter: "Football is courage, and Motta gave it to Bologna. He's not a tactician, someone who waits for his opponent to make mistakes, but a strategist, who dictates the game.
"He gave them a style of play; the team are united, all players are improving and he gave them an individual sense within a group."
Cesare Prandelli, who coached Motta as a midfielder with Italy, added: "As a player, he had the quickest brain, thought and vision. I can see them all in his team too. He's young but very innovative: I consider him the best manager we have in Italy."
Players love him and enjoy his football. The city love him too; fans have launched an online petition for him to stay after his contract ends in June.
Bologna have European ambitions, backed by their leadership off the pitch.
At the top is owner Joey Saputo, also the club president, a Canadian businessman of Italian origin, whose family made its fortune in the dairy business and is worth, according to Forbes, about $4.9bn.
Chief executive Fenucci and present sports director Marco di Vaio joined Bologna alongside Saputo in 2014, while Sartori came later, in 2022.
And it was Sartori's arrival that really set things in motion. On his watch, Bologna have signed Zirkzee from Bayern Munich for 8.5m euros, Ferguson from Aberdeen for 3.5m, Fabbian from Inter for 5m, Calafiori from FC Basel for 4m and many more bargains.
Reaching the Champions League would be lucrative for Bologna. It would also increase their chances of retaining their top players.
That remains a challenge, with clubs keen to pick off their best talent. Bayern could re-sign Zirkzee for 40m euros, and other teams are looking too.
Ferguson, a target for Napoli and Juventus last January, is now worth 10 times his original value and has plenty of admirers around Italy and Europe.
What happens next?
For Motta and his players, destiny will be decided at the end of the season.
Securing Champions League football would create a whole new set of opportunities - and might just ensure their big names stay.
Zirkzee has blossomed in his second Serie A season. Ferguson loves the club, the fans, his team-mates.
Even the manager, linked with Milan, Juventus, Paris St-Germain, Barcelona, Porto and some Premier League clubs, said that "the love I feel every day will play a big part in my future decisions".
But whatever happens next, the club have started planning.
Two strikers arrived in January - Jens Odgaard, a Dane, from Dutch club AZ Alkmaar and Santiago Castro from Velez Sarsfield in his native Argentina. Sartori and Di Vaio have 14 scouts working worldwide, and make several trips a month themselves to evaluate players.
In June, Bologna will celebrate the 60th anniversary of their last Scudetto.
Wouldn't it be fantastic for them to celebrate in style, with the certainty of Champions League football next season?
