To dive into the universe of Luis Campos is to dive into the world of “Football Manager”, here we talk to you about scoutingplayer trading, added value and performance. He is not yet officially named, but the future leader of PSG is surely the best in Europe. Aged 57, Luis Campos will embark on his greatest challenge, trying to put his method in place in a club as important as Paris-Saint-Germain.
An appointment that took its time
The announced revolution at Paris Saint-Germain took place, but it took its time. The appointment of the Portuguese was the result of several weeks of negotiation. Luis Campos does not want the sporting director position that Leonardo occupied. The former manager of Lille and Monaco wants, as in his former clubs, the role of adviser to the president. He wants his emoluments to go through his company based in Monaco. This unprecedented collaboration for PSG therefore takes more time to organize.
The Campos method
“Luis his brain is a computer!” Slips us a close friend of the man who led the sporting destiny of Monaco between 2013 and 2016. Moreover, at that time, Monegasque observers discovered “a working machine”. A scout who has at least 50 names of players to propose for each position. Footballers whose profiles he knows in detail. Each player must have been observed at least 7 times before being the subject of the detailed report that will land on his desk. “He has a scouting network (detection) in Europe quite impressive“, explains a players’ agent to us and adds: “it’s a nose. It smells very well the blows and the bargains”.
Those who were able to work with him in the Principality explain that Luis Campos “does not like to take the light” and “It’s a pretty impressive work force.” And an observer from the ASM team to extend the remarks by explaining “He wants to know everything about what’s going on at the club. He wants to control everything. He quickly analyzes the staff, the club’s entourage. He is very quick to identify people but he also sometimes becomes a little paranoid. C is a character who can become divisive”.
Monaco, the spotlight
Love lasts 3 years explains Frédéric Beigbeder in a book. Well for Luis Campos, football adventures last a maximum of three years. And often these stories end badly. In Lille as in Monaco, the Portuguese technician worked only 3 seasons. Three years in which the work of the very discreet Luis Campos has been hailed. Moreover, an important sporting wink, the only two teams that have stood up to PSG – by becoming champions of France – over the last nine years are Monaco and Lille, two clubs then led by the Portuguese.
Between 2013 and 2016 in Monaco, Luis Campos implemented his scouting method. Europe of football discovered his work. He obviously brought Kylian Mbappé to the Principality, but he was also the one who recruited and developed players like Fabinho, now at Liverpool, or Bernardo Silva (Manchester City). Just for the last two players mentioned, Monaco bought them for 18 million euros before selling them for 95 million euros. That’s the Campos method: attract players with high potential and sell them well, which PSG has rarely managed to do in the past ten years.
Lille, we take the same method and start again
After his departure from Monaco, Luis Campos arrives in Lille in the luggage of Gérard Lopes. There too even its bell “he’s a big, big worker” we are told to evoke the one who has occupied all the positions in a football club in his career (player, coach, scout, sports adviser, etc.). Between 2017 and 2020, again thanks to his huge network, he made Lille a stronghold in scouting and football trading. His sporting record at LOSC is good with a French champion team in 2020. Recruitment is also marked by real successes: Renato Sanches, Gabriel, Soumaré, Ikone, Fonte, Bamba and Osimhen. Important with each sale, Luis Campos is always “one or two steps ahead” and can offer his coaches names of players to quickly make a replacement. On the other hand, there were also failures like Thiago Maïa and young Noah Fatar, who did not win. Some observers also believe that pre-training was abandoned during the three-year campos.
On the management side, Luis Campos is described as directive, he wants discipline, he is authoritarian. Moreover, the stories of his Homeric anger are not lacking. Another important point highlighted by former collaborators, Luis Campos wants his players to be focused only on football. In Lille as in Monaco, he arrived with his teams. Trustworthy men he places at the four corners of the organization chart. Some are even there to take care of the stewardship of footballers (moves, administrative formalities, etc.) so that they are in a “cocoon.”
For many observers, the elite profile of Luis Campos is to sports management what PSG is to French football. It remains to be seen whether they are made to win together.