Having been brought in last summer to replace Leonardo and to bring in a new approach to recruitment at Paris Saint-Germain, the club’s sporting advisor Luis Campos could already be packing his bags.
According to L’Équipe, the latest twist in the Kylian Mbappé saga has weakened the Portuguese director’s position at the club. He was amongst those who did not want to leave him out of the PSG squad that travelled to Japan for pre-season, a tactic used to pressure the French attacker into to make up his mind about his future – and that put Campos in a sticky situation.
Instead of being on the forefront of this issue, which his position at the club requires him to be, he has been in the shadows, and not very vocal, unlike his president Nasser Al Khelaifi. He had even told the latter to calm down, show a little bit of pragmatism, rather than frustration with the Frenchman.
The club seem somewhat willing protect the sporting advisor, as they do not want to add to the current issues they are facing, leaving Campos do his work in the background. The recruitment campaign he has led this summer has seen the arrivals of Marco Asensio, Manuel Ugarte, Milan Škriniar, Cher Ndour and Kang-In Lee.
His influence has, however, been reduced. The arrivals of Lucas Hernandéz and Xavi Simons, as well as probable future transfer for Ousmane Dembélé have seemingly been operated by the Qatari president of the club. Meanwhile, Campos is focusing on deals for Bradley Barcola and Gonçalo Ramos.
Evidently, last year’s appointment as head coach of Christophe Galtier, with whom Campos had worked with at Lille previously, did not help the his position, given how difficult the relationship was last season between the manager and the club. This year, the relationship with Luis Enrique seems healthier, with the two men working together to find the right profile of players, particularly on the wings, to bring in.
The coming weeks will be crucial for Campos and the club. Whatever happens to Mbappé, the club feel that the power given to the player will have been Campos’ responsibility. If the club does not get the desired resolution – contract extension, ideally, or a transfer this summer – there is no doubt that the sporting director would then leave.
