In the modern football world, clubs live and die by their recruitment.
This explains why sporting directors and chief scouts have become so important to all of the biggest sides in the world, with the competition for top talent at an all-time high.
One of the most successful sporting directors of recent years was Edu Gaspar, who helped Mikel Arteta turn Arsenal from a mid-table side into Premier League title challengers.
So, when it was announced in November 2024 that he would be leaving, it took everyone by surprise.
Edu is set to become part of Evangelos Marinakis’ portfolio of clubs, which includes Premier League side Nottingham Forest, while the search for his replacement at Arsenal is underway.
There are some very credible candidates, but the standout one is Luis Campos.
Reports suggest that the Gunners have made the Paris Saint-Germain transfer guru one of their top targets to replace Edu.
And when you look at the players he’s signed and the clubs he’s worked for, it’s easy to see why.
Campos is now 60 and has been involved in football since he was 27 when he managed Uniao de Leiria in his native Portugal.
In truth, his managerial career was nothing to shout about and included three relegations with three different clubs.
His biggest moment as a manager came in 2004 when his Gil Vicente side beat Jose Mourinho‘s Porto.
This ended their 27-game unbeaten run, but it wasn’t to be the last time Campos encountered Mourinho.
In fact, after deciding to turn his back on management, the Portuguese citizen set up a training company that provided equipment for coaches.
There was even a one-off tactics board made for Mourinho.
This was the start of a special relationship that changed Campos’ life.
In 2012, Mourinho announced his compatriot was joining him at Real Madrid to be a scout.
Here he discovered a little-known Brazilian right-back known as Fabinho, who later became a central defensive midfielder and Champions League winner for Liverpool.
Campos was popular at Real Madrid, but a role at Monaco to be the club’s sporting director tempted him, and it was here we saw both sides of his work.
Significant Luis Campos signings
Joao Moutinho – Porto to Monaco – £20.8m – 2013
Bernardo Silva – Benfica to Monaco – £13.1m – 2014
Fabinho – Rio Ave to Monaco – £5m – 2015
Tiemoue Bakayoko – Rennes to Monaco – £6.69m – 2014
Anthony Martial – Lyon B to Monaco – £4.1m – 2013
Thomas Lemar – SM Caen to Monaco – £3.3m – 2015
Victor Osimhen – Royal Charleroi to Lille – £17m – 2019
Rafael Leao – Sporting Lisbon to Lille – £16.8m – 2018
Nicolas Pepe – Angers to Lille – £15m – 2017
Gabriel Magalhaes – Avai to Lille – £3m – 2017
Sven Botman – Ajax to Lille – £6.69m – 2020
Initially, Monaco were happy to splash the cash, so in came James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao.
But during the following season, the purse strings were tightened, and Campos was forced to find players for low fees with high re-sale value.
This led to Bernardo Silva, Fabinho and Tiemoue Bakayoko joining for minimal fees, while Campos also happened to discover a certain Kylian Mbappe in the Monaco youth team.
The pair have since shared a special relationship, with Mbappe even claiming that Campos ‘saved him’ while at PSG after he was told he wouldn’t play for them again after refusing to sign a new deal and deciding to leave for nothing in the summer of 2024 to join Los Blancos.
Of course, some of these players left and were replaced with equally cheap replacements, culminating in Monaco winning Ligue 1 in the 2016/17 season.
Campos had already left at that point, but it was his signings that saw PSG’s run of Ligue 1 titles end.
Lille came calling soon after, and Campos worked his magic once more, signing Victor Osimhen, Rafael Leao, Gabriel Magalhaes and Nicolas Pepe.
Osimhen and Leao were sold for huge profits to help create the team that lifted the Ligue 1 title in the 2020/21 campaign, but again, Campos wasn’t there to see the fruits of his labour having left in December 2020.
Gabriel was a bargain buy at £3m and Lille made a good profit on the defender who Arsenal signed for £23m in the 2020 summer transfer window. Under Arteta, the defender has become a mainstay in the heart of defence alongside William Saliba.
Their partnership was fruitful when Arsenal mounted a serious title challenge on Manchester City in the 2023/24 season when they conceded just 29 goals to make them the stingiest in the league.
Campos is now at PSG but has seen Mbappe leave and he hasn’t renewed his contract, so Arsenal are in line to swoop.
Given the talent he’s spotted, Arsenal fans should be very excited at the prospect of Europe’s premier talent spotter moving to the Emirates.
