Why Arsenal NEED to hire Luis Campos.

A thread:

It’s quite obvious that Arsenal’s recruitment has been poor in recent years. As such, many people, myself included feel that technical director Edu needs to be sacked. But who’d replace him?

With Ligue 1 in damage control, Luis Campos has resigned from his position as Director of Football at Lille. The former manager has been linked to moves to Tottenham and Manchester United, which is why it is imperative that Arsenal sign him.

In this thread, I will discuss:

- Campos’ background
- His transfer strategy
- Examples of this strategy

BACKGROUND

Luis Campos is a Portuguese Director of Football with over a decade of managerial experience. The majority of his managerial career was unsuccessful, with Campos being famous for getting teams relegated.

In 2012, Campos joined Real Madrid’s backroom staff as a scout. There, he became one of Europe’s leading scouts A year later, he left for Monaco, where he became technical director in 2014. Despite leaving for Lille in 2017, he helped the club raise €1 billion in transfer fees.

TRANSFER STRATEGY

Campos’ strategy is one clubs outside of Europe’s elite use. Both Lille and Monaco use an idea of buying young players for small fees, before selling them for huge profits. This is highlighted in the graph, which shows net spend in Ligue 1 over 3 years.

Using his extensive scouting network, Campos likes to buy young, flexible players with high resale value. He likes to buy players who have a number of abilities in order to balance the squad out.

For example, Campos likes his full-backs to be comfortable going forward and solid defensively. The attackers are purely goalscorers. The midfield has a balance of creativity and ball progression. He’d sign a centre-back who is defensively solid to compliment Gabriel's passing.

Campos also had this to say about scouting potential players:

“A small detail such as observing how a player warms up before a game or coming on as a substitute reveals much of his character. And character is an essential marker in detecting a top talent."

EXAMPLES OF STRATEGY

Examples of Campos’ recruitment policy are evident in both Monaco and Lille’s dealings. The below table is a prime example of this policy in action. He has managed to turn over huge fees by finding stars within the academy or at lower league clubs.

If we look at Lille, we can see his genius. When he joined the club, Lille’s squad was valued at £75.65m, according to Transfermarkt. It’s now £214.9m. He’s done this with a net spend of only -£69 million. This is further explained in the graph. Campos’ signings are in red.

Two of the best examples of Campos’ genius come in the forms of Nico Pepe and Victor Osimhen. Osimhen was brought in for €22 million from Charleroi. Napoli soon bought him for €70 million. Likewise, Pepe joined for €9 million and was sold to Arsenal for 9 times that.

CONCLUSION

To summarise, Campos would be a brilliant addition for any team looking for a DoF. his scouting network and eye for talent are second to none. He and Ralf Ragnick are the kings of turning over huge profits.

End of thread.

Sources used:
- Talksport
- Total Football Analysis

Hope you enjoyed, likes and RTs appreciated.

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Initial TFA article written by @DavidSeymour_, full credit goes to him, be sure to check out the rest of his work for TFA.