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Explained: Who is the Director of Football and what he does

Published at :May 23, 2019 at 11:26 AM
Modified at :May 23, 2019 at 11:26 AM
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Rohan Philip


Almost every major club in Europe has understood the need for a Sporting Director.

$4.2 billion, $4 billion and $3.8 billion are the net worth of Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Manchester United FC respectively, the top three most valuable clubs in world football.

These astronomical sums show that football is no more just a game of twenty-two men, it is a multi-billion-dollar industry that extends both into business and into the sport. This renders the role of the traditional manager or the head coach much more difficult than it was in the years gone by.

This is why clubs all over Europe have begun the practice of employing a Director of Football or a Sporting director, a person who eased the pressure on the manager by acting as a buffer between him and the board of the football club, allowing the manager to focus on the side of the game that takes place on the pitch.

While clubs all over the continent adopted this structure, English clubs were reluctant to do so. Arsene Wenger, the former manager of Arsenal, famously expressed his derision for the role by saying, “Director of Football? I don’t know what that is. Is it someone who stands on the road and directs the players left and right? I never understand what it means. I am manager of Arsenal and as long as I am manager, I will decide what happens on the technical front.”

The importance of a Director of Football or a Sporting Director has increased rapidly

Perhaps it was this stubbornness that played a part in Arsenal’s failed transition through the eras of football. However, the role of director of football is a particularly intriguing one. These individuals are usually former players who have a good understanding of the game as well as a good rapport with clubs and players and a good network in the footballing world.

While the position is rapidly being filled in clubs around the world, the role varies from club to club. The duties of a director of football range from hiring and firing of managers, scouting and recruiting of players and the management of the academy activities. However, the primary responsibility of these individuals is usually overseeing the club’s transfer activity.

The concept is now being picked up in the English game with several clubs such as Manchester City has now adopted the role. From day to day, the Director of Football role calls for the individual to act as a medium of communication between the business-oriented board of the club and the manager who is associated with the club’s on-field activity.

Manchester United are one of the best examples of a club that have suffered due to the lack of this medium. Several United managers including Louis Van Gaal and Jose Mourinho have complained that their hands were tied by the board and that the presence of a Director of Football and a restructuring of the club was just what it was crying out for.

To illustrate just how important a Director of football can be, we at Khel Now have compiled a list of the top five most successful Directors of Football in the world.

Ralph Rangnick – RB Leipzig

The German has a real knack for spotting the young talents that will eventually become superstars and sell them for a very high price when they do. Rangnick was hired as RB Leipzig's sporting director in 2012 and has since seen the club sign and sell a whole host of players, the most notable of whom was Naby Keita to Liverpool.

Monchi – Sevilla FC

Watch our exclusive interview of Monchi

The Spaniard is most famous for what he did at Sevilla, a club that is famous for discovering young talent that go on to make serious marks in the Spanish and World game.

These players include the likes of Dani Alves and Ivan Rakitic. One of the magnificent squads he assembled cost a little over €25m, consisting of shot-stopper Andrés Palop, a defence of Dani Alves, Federico Fazio, Martin Cáceres and Adriano, the midfield of Ivan Rakitic, Júlio Baptista, Seydou Keita and Christian Poulsen and Luís Fabiano, with Carlos Bacca upfront.

And he sold them for around €170m. A mean profit of potent scouting and intelligent bargaining.

Txiki Begiristain – Manchester City

Although this may not be a household name amongst fans of the English game, Txiki Begiristain has had an impact on world football that will be felt for generations. He was brought into Manchester City in 2012 at the start of the club’s true renaissance and has since overseen the arrival of several superstars including their current manager, Pep Guardiola.

Giuseppe Marotta – Inter Milan

Marotta is the man behind one of the biggest revival stories in footballing history. Following Juventus’ relegation to Serie B and their subsequent promotion, the club needed an upheaval.

Marotta stepped in and made smart signings in the subsequent years that effectively turned the club around. The signing of Cristiano Ronaldo was the icing on the cake. In 2018, the Italian left the Old Lady to join rivals Inter Milan.

He is known for his eye in spotting the free agents and his list consists of Aaron Ramsey, Adrien Rabiot, Paul Pogba, Andrea Pirlo among others.

Michael Zorc – Borussia Dortmund

The former Dortmund player took over the reins as their Director of Football after his retirement and has since built Dortmund’s reputation for bringing in young and seemingly overlooked talents and turning them into world stars.

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Jadon Sancho is the most recent example of just this. Zorc’s success at Dortmund has attracted attention from all over the world but for now, he is staying put at his beloved club.

Every season, more clubs around the World are seeing the need for a director of football and chances are that before long, it will become a standard position of a club’s staff. The quicker that the major clubs embrace this change in the standard structuring of a football club, the easier the transition will be.

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