Wright: Durin arrival shows Pompey owners' ambition Â
That's the verdict of Dave Wright, following this week's signing of the Croatian under-18 international for an undisclosed fee.
The towering 17-year-old impressed during a week's stay at Fratton Park, which included an Academy friendly outing against Woking.
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Hide AdWith two international keepers ahead of him at Atalanta, Durin was keen for a fresh challenge away from the Italian game.
That brought him to the attention of Pompey, who employ a European scout, overseen by Wright as head of Academy performance and recruitment.
And Wright has praised Tornante's willingness to invest in recruiting youth talent for Pompey.
He said: '˜It's part of the vision of the owners, they want to invest in the Academy.
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Hide Ad'˜They see young players as an integral part moving forward '“ and it's the first indication they will support and back us.
'˜The recruitment world is word of mouth and contacts, linking with people you know.
'˜We have a European scout who brought the player to our attention and then things went from there. Atalanta kindly allowed us to have him for a week, spending a lot of time with our goalkeeping coach John Keeley, but it was within hours rather than days when it was decided he had the right attributes.
'˜The key word with Petar is potential. He is still very young and has a lot of development left to go, but we feel potentially he can develop into a very, very good keeper.
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Hide Ad'˜For me, his technical ability stands out. He can deal with the ball at his feet, has a nice size and shape, his personality is good you can see he wants to learn and improve.
'˜Once he develops and gets stronger, we feel there's a top keeper there.'
Instantly there is a comparison with Asmir Begovic, who arrived at Fratton in 2003 as a 15-year-old from Canada.
He was sold to Stoke in February 2010 for £3.25m.
Wright added: '˜We cannot remember the last time the club invested in an Academy player.
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Hide Ad'˜That's the point of me coming in and the direction the owners feel is important.
'˜We have our own players in the system.
'˜But if there are those outside we feel can add to us, then we'll do it.'