The young defender’s shyness looked like arrogance to the Udinese coach, who admits he misunderstood the player before discovering the personality and extraordinary athletic qualities beneath the reserve.
Crucially, Udogie was not playing regularly when Cioffi took charge. The coach decided to give him an opportunity, and the left-back went on to establish himself in Serie A before moving to Tottenham Hotspur.
“Udogie is a very shy boy who, before I coached the team and took over, wasn't playing," Cioffi told Football Presse. "And I had, in quotation marks, the courage to play him, while also misunderstanding him, because I interpreted his shyness as arrogance.
“In reality, he is a very introverted boy who has a supersonic engine. I'm not surprised that he is in the Premier League now. He is a very strong player who is achieving what he deserves.
"In fact, I would be curious to see him return to one of Italy's top clubs.”
There is an unusual honesty in Cioffi’s recollection. He does not claim to have understood Udogie immediately or to have recognised every aspect of his personality. Instead, he acknowledges that his interpretation was mistaken, while explaining why he trusted the player enough to put him on the pitch.
Udogie had come through Hellas Verona’s youth system before joining Udinese on loan, with the move becoming permanent before his eventual transfer to Spurs. He remains at Tottenham, where he has continued his Premier League career. For Cioffi, the defender’s progress is no surprise: the physical ability was already there, even if the young player’s temperament was harder to read.
Udogie was one of the players who made Cioffi’s time at Udinese significant, but the coach’s memories of the club are complicated. Asked to describe his experiences with Udinese and Verona, he chose three words: formative, constructive and painful. The hurt came particularly from his return to Udinese after leaving for Verona.
“My experiences were formative, constructive and a little painful, especially Udine, because I suffered a lot from the fact that when I returned for the second time, the fans had not accepted that I had gone to Verona.
“Unfortunately, I had no idea about the dynamics between the supporters. Verona and Udine were perhaps historic enemies. I didn't know that; that was my fault. And I would say that when I returned to Udine, despite fairly positive results, I never had the affection of the fans that I had received in my first year.”
Cioffi’s regret is not simply that the supporters were unhappy with his decision to move. He says he had not understood the depth of feeling between the two sets of fans, and accepts responsibility for that lack of awareness. Even results he considered reasonably positive could not restore the relationship he had enjoyed during his first spell.
His assessment of Verona is different. He describes it as a formative experience, one that taught him about the demands of management in circumstances for which he felt insufficiently prepared. The club was undergoing a major change in ownership, and he found himself caught in the middle of it.
“On the other hand, Verona was a formative experience because I lived Verona. It was probably a rushed decision, because it was a moment of total change in the ownership of the club, and I found myself in the middle of the storm.
“Probably at the time I wasn't structured enough, and I didn't have people around me who could help me. Even so, I have very beautiful, positive memories. These experiences are part of my life as a coach, and they have allowed me to become who I am now, or who I will be tomorrow.”
It is a frank admission from a coach reflecting on his own development. Cioffi does not dismiss Verona as a mistake or deny the difficulties he faced. He acknowledges that he may have made the decision too quickly and that he lacked the support around him to navigate the situation as effectively as he would have liked. Yet he insists that the experience remains a positive part of his professional life.
His time at Udinese also gave him the opportunity to work with players whose mentality impressed him as much as their footballing ability. Juan Musso and Nahuel Molina, who later played together at Atlético Madrid, were two examples he singled out when discussing his former squad.
“What I can tell you is that they are two extraordinary young men and they have the mentality of champions. They are champions, champions in their minds. Before achieving their goal, they have already achieved it in their heads, through their attitude, their mentality and their desire. They are two winners.”
Cioffi’s reflections on these players and clubs reveal a coach who has learned as much from difficult relationships and imperfect decisions as from success on the pitch.
At Udinese, he experienced the bond between a team and its supporters, then discovered how quickly that connection could change. At Verona, he found himself in a turbulent situation and later recognised that he had not been sufficiently equipped for it.
His assessment of Udogie brings the story back to the importance of looking beyond first impressions. Cioffi initially misread the young defender, but he still gave him the chance to show what he could do.
The coach now sees a player who has earned his place in the Premier League and who, in his view, could one day return to one of Italy’s leading clubs.