Luis Campos was a disruptive influence in French football for Paris Saint-Germain. Twice he helped to build teams that beat 👄 them to the Ligue 1 title, first with Monaco and then with Lille.
But now, rather than proving a thorn in 👄 the side of the Qatari-backed Parisian club, he is helping to shape their future.
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PSG have overseen a major overhaul this 👄 summer. The heavyweight stars of Lionel Messi and Neymar have departed, while 13 new signings have arrived in their stead. 👄 Campos, as the club’s consultant sporting advisor, has helped make it happen.
The Portuguese transfer guru has a gilded reputation, and 👄 has been linked with posts at many of Europe’s major clubs following his success in France. It is not just 👄 about trophies; his transfer dealings have resulted in enormous profits. At Lille, players he signed who were later sold for 👄 big money included Nicolas Pepe, Victor Osimhen and Rafael Leao. At Monaco, he sought out Fabinho, Thomas Lemar, Bernardo Silva, 👄 Tiemoue Bakayoko and Benjamin Mendy. Combined, the sale of these eight players alone helped their clubs recoup a reported €450million 👄 (£388m,R$481m). They were all signed for less than €100m.
Bernardo Silva and Fabinho, pictured in 2024, were two of Luis Campos’ 👄 success stories at Monaco (Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Now Campos has a very different remit — to rebuild PSG to ensure they 👄 compete with Europe’s elite long-term, and challenge for that elusive first Champions League. It is one that comes with significant 👄 pressure and scrutiny; and indeed, for much of this past summer, reports in France have questioned whether he would stay 👄 in post at all.
He arrived last summer more or less at the behest of Kylian Mbappe, a signal that PSG 👄 were aiming to rebuild their squad to appease the now France captain. With Mbappe’s future up in the air, so 👄 too was that of Campos. As sporting advisor, the Portuguese was responsible for the appointment of Christophe Galtier as manager 👄 and the two were seen as a duo; the combination that had won Lille their title. Galtier was dismissed in 👄 July this year. Would Campos go with him?
Yet the 59-year-old still stands. More than that, Campos has had the chance 👄 to completely reshape this PSG project, working in lockstep with new head coach Luis Enrique, and club president Nasser Al 👄 Khelaifi.
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Despite the noise, he has been integral to the summer’s work.
PSG are embarking on a new era, epitomised by the 👄 departure of stars, the arrival of a new head coach with a distinct philosophy and the opening of their new 👄 training centre. They want a younger squad that will provide a pathway to sustainability as well as success.
After financial fair 👄 play (FFP) constraints last year, Campos has had the freedom of a bigger budget, with weighty departures, not least Neymar 👄 and Messi, opening new horizons. And PSG have spent big. More than €300m committed in total, with major signings including 👄 Randal Kolo Muani (€75m plus add-ons from Eintracht Frankfurt), Goncalo Ramos (loan then a deal worth an initial €65m and 👄 €15m in add-ons from Benfica), Manuel Ugarte (€60m from Sporting), Lucas Hernandez (€40m plus add-ons from Bayern Munich) and Ousmane 👄 Dembele (€50m from Barcelona).
It has been a transformative few months, with the window’s work met positively in Paris. Now, though, 👄 the defining tests await. Talk of a new direction will meet the weight of expectation as PSG’s most coveted competition, 👄 the Champions League, begins. For so long, the pursuit of European silverware has defined what success means to the club. 👄 Will that continue? PSG, who have always lived and breathed the short term, have still retained the services of Campos, 👄 a squad builder who looks mainly to the long term.
Can he put the club on the path to success? And 👄 for Campos, after years of bolstering the underdog, can he elevate a project backed by a nation-state?
Luis Campos does not 👄 work full-time in Paris. His official job title is that of ‘football advisor’ and he is contracted as a consultant, 👄 working essentially on a part-time basis. His base is still in Monaco, where his consultancy has resided for more than 👄 a decade. He has worked with various clubs, such as Turkish side Galatasaray, in recent years, while his agreement with 👄 PSG sits alongside his advisory work with La Liga side Celta Vigo.
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Campos has a personal connection to Celta — he 👄 grew up in northern Portugal, on the coast near Braga. As a child, he would often attend Celta’s Balaidos stadium, 👄 which sits just over the northern border with Spain.
According to sources close to Campos, speaking on condition of anonymity (like 👄 many of those consulted for this piece to protect their working relationships and jobs), the idea for his transfer advisory 👄 consultancy is straightforward. He wants it to be the ‘KPMG’ of football.
“He has a talent,” says Carlos Carvalhal, who worked 👄 with Campos last season as Celta’s head coach. “It’s a talent that developed because he played football and was a 👄 coach, but that’s not enough. You must have something. His instinct is absolutely fantastic because he has discovered players that 👄 have left for millions and millions. It’s unbelievable what he is doing.”
Carvalhal first met Campos in the 1980s. The future 👄 Swansea City and Sheffield Wednesday head coach grew up in Braga, 20 minutes away from Campos, who was born in 👄 the small coastal town of Fao. The pair met in youth matches; Campos playing for Esposende, and Carvalhal at Braga. 👄 Campos did not have a hugely successful football career, and went to university in Porto to study physical education. He 👄 then worked as a youth coach at Esposende before going into senior coaching. He did not build a glittering resume 👄 and even attained the nickname ‘Luis Campa’ (Luis ‘Grave’), after overseeing relegations as coach of Vitoria de Setubal and then 👄 Varzim.
Campos would swap that nickname for ‘campao’ (champion) in the transfer market with success in Monaco, which followed a time 👄 working in Mourinho’s backroom staff at Real Madrid. He was invited to France in 2013 by Monaco’s Vasim Vasilyev, the 👄 advisor to Russian owner Dmitry Rybolovlev. The project was initially built around signing ready-made stars, like Radamel Falcao and James 👄 Rodriguez, but that evolved quickly into building for the longer term. Campos left the club in 2024, with Monaco recording 👄 successive European finishes before winning the title in 2024. He repeated the trick at Lille, where he stayed between 2024 👄 and 2024.
Squad building is his forte. He uses a multidisciplinary team that is spread across the world to find talent. 👄 Some of his staff are on permanent contracts, others, those close to him say, are inside clubs. His right-hand man, 👄 Olivier Gagne, assists him at PSG after working together at Lille.
“In Lille, there was one person on Africa, another on 👄 South America, Europe was divided into several sectors,“ former Lille general manager Fernando da Cruz told Le Parisien last year. 👄 ”The scouts were not assigned to the same region all the time, however, they rotated every two months at the 👄 request of Luis to refine the eye and the reports. There was a classification of players by level A, B, 👄 C or D sometimes, for each position.”
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“It’s very easy to work with him,” says Carvalhal. “Luis and his staff have 👄 a database, and they come to me and the club and say: ‘For this situation, and this position and level 👄 of money, we have six solutions at a high level, that’s very expensive, medium and low. That’s low price with 👄 a bright future. This is my preference, second, third, fourth… to six’. It’s amazing.”
For Campos, in a modern era defined 👄 increasingly by the use of data, in-person scouting remains key. “Live observation is fundamental,“ he told the Transfer Window podcast. 👄 “For example, 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.”
“Once, I spoke 👄 to him about a player I liked,” says Carvalhal. “He liked him too but he said to me: ‘There is 👄 something wrong with this player’. Afterwards, and he does this all the time, he looked into the personal life and 👄 family life. What he is doing out of the training and so on. The next day, he came back to 👄 me and said: ‘Carlos, forget this player’. I didn’t ask any questions — I know when he says to forget 👄 this player, you have to forget them.”
Those close to Campos insist his focus is on sporting aspects as opposed to 👄 economics and agents but he is also very well-connected within the industry, not least within Portugal. He has frequently worked 👄 with Jorge Mendes, the ‘super agent’ whose influence has grown at PSG since Campos’ arrival. Six players represented by his 👄 Gestifute agency have joined the club under Campos’ watch, including Ramos and Bradley Barcola.
Success in an often bruising football industry 👄 requires a steeliness, and self-belief, and Campos is not someone afraid of the attention. That has been evident at PSG, 👄 where he has been spotted on the touchline during games, notably stepping into the technical area while PSG were trailing 👄 3-2 to Lille in February, storming ahead of coach Christophe Galtier to vent his frustrations. He is visible too in 👄 open training sessions, and is not afraid to go before a camera. After a 3-2 home defeat by Lorient, Campos 👄 appeared on Canal+ to call for unity to secure last year’s title.
But Campos also knows his worth and that makes 👄 him an interesting character to be thrown into the heart of a political and ego-marked arena like PSG. “At Lille, 👄 he arrived during the season, in December, with Gerard Lopez who had taken over the club,” recalled former player Julian 👄 Palmieri to Onze Mondial. “Very quickly, he knew how to mark his territory. His strength is there, he quickly imposes 👄 himself.”
There is ego there, of course. One source who has negotiated with Campos described him as “charming, funny, and fiery, 👄 with a big ego, but good company”.
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He certainly has pride in his work: “I don’t want to appear arrogant but 👄 I assure you I will create other ‘masterpieces’ like (Monaco) in my career,“ he told the Transfer Window podcast. ”Many 👄 parents have suddenly appeared for our project and player recruitment, many of whom claim paternity even though they ‘never had 👄 sex with the mother or even slept in the same bed’! But the world of football doesn’t sleep and knows 👄 very well who made a team which today anyone who likes football admires and respects. Because nothing happened by chance.”
He 👄 is not afraid to upset people. At all three of his French clubs, he would create ‘lofts’, or a group 👄 of undesirables seen to have no future with the club. At Lille, he put big names up for sale, including 👄 Marko Basa, Rio Mavuba, Marvin Martin and Vincent Enyeama. There was a loft too at PSG, where Mbappe resided before 👄 he was brought back in from the cold. Those close to Campos outline that he sees changes in personnel as 👄 similar to that in any business, where executives make changes in cycles and move pieces around.
Luis Campos, right, in conversation 👄 with PSG president Al Khelaifi (Franck Fife via Getty Images)
Clashes can happen. In general, those close to Campos outline that 👄 he has always maintained good relationships with his coaches. “At Celta, he was not always there because he was working 👄 at PSG but if I needed him, he was there,” adds Carvalhal. “He was there in the crucial moments, to 👄 take key decisions. It was very easy to work with them, because we had the same vision for the club.”
There 👄 is one exception, in Marcelo Bielsa. At an industrial tribunal where Bielsa contested his sacking for unfair dismissal, the Argentine 👄 was quoted by L’Equipe as saying: “Campos never wanted to help me. It was impossible to talk football with him. 👄 What interested him was only the commercial part, transfers, commissions, agents, percentages… Football didn’t interest him.”
At PSG, Campos had a 👄 difficult relationship with Antero Henrique, another sporting advisor who was responsible for player sales last season. Campos felt the Brazilian 👄 was responsible for last summer’s stunted window. He has clashed with players too, such as in the dressing room with 👄 Neymar and Marquinhos after the 4-3 win over Lille, ahead of the club’s Champions League tie with Bayern Munich. This, 👄 though, was later played down as normal discussions in the heat of battle. “Someone has to tell the players the 👄 truths to their faces,” Campos said.
Perhaps such a character is what’s needed to survive at PSG and instil the changes 👄 required.
“You need someone with a strong character, and who doesn’t talk bullshit,” added Palmieri after Campos’ appointment. “Some players did 👄 as they want (at PSG), they don’t respect the institution. The arrival of Campos can change that.”
Campos’ relationship with club 👄 president Al Khelaifi was not always smooth in their first year together, a natural conflict perhaps between the financial and 👄 sporting interests, but that has only served to improve their communication. This summer the pair have forged a strong working 👄 relationship and, alongside Luis Enrique, the trio have worked seamlessly to implement wide-ranging changes to the playing staff.
Luis Enrique arrived 👄 following the sacking of Christophe Galtier (Christian Liewig – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
Al Khelaifi has been heavily involved in the 👄 transfer window, particularly regarding the closure of transfers that seemed to have met an impasse, such as the signing of 👄 Kolo Muani from Frankfurt, where Al Khelaifi’s intervention, according to a source with knowledge of the negotiations, ensured lingering issues 👄 were resolved with a minute to spare on deadline day. Al Khelaifi has been integral to completing player sales, too.
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Today, 👄 there is a settled sense within the PSG hierarchy, despite a summer of noise suggesting Campos could leave. Even after 👄 the window, Le Parisien reported that a clash between Campos and Victoriano Melero, the club’s general secretary, and Gregory Durand, 👄 the director of the legal department, put his position at risk. This was fiercely denied by PSG, with a source 👄 with knowledge of the matter emphasising the issue was overblown, outlining how disagreements were common when staff have different and 👄 competing remits; Campos to improve the squad and Melero, for instance, to ensure the club is profitable and FFP compliant.
Noise 👄 about Campos pockmarked the summer, in part connected to the Mbappe saga too. Campos has been close to Mbappe, and 👄 had even agreed to join Real Madrid with the France captain last summer before the PSG player renewed his contract 👄 instead. Uncertainty was rekindled after Galtier’s dismissal but the reality is that Campos was brought in to build for the 👄 future. He has two years remaining on his contract, and Al Khelaifi works well with him.
“In this summer transfer window, 👄 Luis Campos and I worked together 20 hours a day for two months without stopping,” Al Khelaifi told Portuguese outlet 👄 Record earlier this month. “Everyone can see the great results of this work.”
Campos found the first year was difficult. He 👄 was known to talk about jigsaws but he felt he didn’t have the pieces to implement the project he would 👄 like, while those at the club weren’t sure what the final picture was meant to be. Limited by sales and 👄 a huge FFP handicap, including the risk of a €60m fine for failing to meet a UEFA settlement agreement, the 👄 squad was evidently incomplete. Campos admitted as much publicly, albeit in an interview that was unauthorised: “We are at the 👄 end of the window without the perfect balance,” he told RMC Sport in that interview last year. “It is a 👄 serious problem for us.” This would prove prophetic, as a lack of depth in defence proved costly as injuries struck 👄 for the club’s Champions League tie with Bayern Munich in March.
This summer has been a different story. PSG now have 👄 depth in all areas, including the possibility of a fully French front line in Mbappe, Kolo Muani and Dembele. Some 👄 targets were acquired before Luis Enrique’s arrival, such as Marco Asensio and Ugarte. Campos also featured prominently in extensive deliberations 👄 regarding a new head coach, but, unlike last year, Luis Enrique was not an appointment just at his behest. The 👄 process was regarded as a detailed and democratic process featuring nine names, such as Jose Mourinho (who was removed quickly 👄 as he had previously jilted PSG for Manchester United), Julian Nagelsmann (who was considered but not as close as some 👄 reports suggested) and Zinedine Zidane (who was not considered).
Randal Kolo Muani is one of PSG’s big-money summer signings (Franco Arland/Quality 👄 Sport Images/Getty Images)
After an initial one-to-one meeting with the new coach, targets were refined to build what is now a 👄 younger and more dynamic squad. Aside perhaps from Bernardo, most targets were attained. Campos considered the window an eight out 👄 of 10.
Now it is about seeing whether this squad can deliver for a club seeking a new identity. And whether 👄 Campos can deliver on this unique challenge.
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“PSG is a challenge but when you go to Lille, and make them a 👄 Champions League team, that is something amazing,” says Carvalhal. “There is more focus on PSG, more pressure maybe. But they 👄 are changing things and the correct person to change things in one club is Luis.
“He doesn’t look at defeats, he 👄 looks to the future. That is why sometimes the projects take two or three or four years to reach their 👄 best. What he did in Lille, what he did in Monaco was absolutely fantastic. What he is starting to do 👄 in PSG is absolutely the same. It is not easy, this kind of transition when two stars like Neymar and 👄 Messi go out and he must rebuild the team and prepare the team for the future. He is doing that 👄 and I’m absolutely sure that in one to three years PSG will be in the best teams in Europe.”
(Top photo: 👄 Christian Liewig – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
