They go by a variety of titles but these are the men who carry the clout in the Premier League, the hirers and the firers…
Sporting director, director of football, president of football operations, technical director… the real powerbrokers in the Premier League operate largely in the shadows, leaving the coaches and managers to face all the scrutiny.
To that extent, there will be names on this list you won’t recognise, much less likely are you to be able to pick some out of an identity parade.
But these are the individuals or groups making the big decisions that will dictate the long-term future of every Premier League club…
Arsenal – Andrea Berta
Berta, 54, became sporting director at Arsenal in 2025, taking over from Edu. The Italian’s background was in banking prior to executive roles at Carpenedolo, Parma and Genoa. He then spent 12 years at Atletico Madrid, first as technical director before becoming sporting director in 2017. Berta helped shape Atletico’s squad and is credited with an influence in the signings of the likes of Antoine Griezmann, Rodri and Jan Oblak. The Rojiblancos won two La Liga titles, the Europa League, and reached two Champions League finals under Diego Simeone on Berta’s watch.
Aston Villa – Roberto Olabe
Villa operate a little differently these days in the wake of Monchi’s exit. Owners Wes Edens, Nassef Sawiris and Michael Angelakis have put their faith in the manager, Unai Emery, to build the team around him, rather than place one of their men between themselves and a head coach. Olabe, the former Real Sociedad sporting director, was appointed as president of football operations in late 2025. The 58-year-old played with Emery at La Real, and had a very brief spell as coach before taking executive roles. Olabe is credited with a leading role in establishing Real Sociedad as a force, signing the likes of Alexander Isak and Martin Zubimendi along the way.
Olabe also works in tandem with Damian Vidagany, who Emery brought with him to Villa Park to serve as director of football operations. Vidagany, a former journalist, first encountered Emery at Valencia when the former Vidagany was working in Los Che’s media and marketing sections. According to The Athletic, ‘Vidagany is Emery’s eyes and ears, a bridge between the football and non-football departments and between the dressing room and management.’ Emery, though, is one of few Premier League bosses above whom are only the owners.
Bournemouth – Tiago Pinto
Pinto, 41, served as director of football at Benfica and general manager at Roma before becoming the Cherries’ president of football operations in 2024. He works in tandem with technical director Simon Francis, the ex-Bournemouth defender who stepped into Richard Hughes’ shoes when the now-Liverpool chief departed for Anfield in 2024.
Brentford – Phil Giles
Giles has been director of football at Brentford for more than a decade, overseeing their ascent to the Premier League. A former Newcastle season-ticket holder with a PhD in statistics, Giles worked with Matthew Benham in the gambling industry before Benham became the Bees’ majority shareholder, steering the club towards a date-driven approach. Giles works with technical director Lee Dykes who oversees the club’s recruitment. Between them all, they’ve worked bloomin’ miracles.
Brighton – Jason Ayto
Ayto was appointed as sporting director in September 2025, overseeing ‘all footballing areas of the club including player recruitment, performance and medical for the club’s senior men’s and women’s teams and academies’. The 40-year-old moved to the AmEx following more than a decade at Arsenal, working his way up from analyst to chief scout to assistant sporting director under Edu before filling in as interim sporting director between the Brazilian and Berta.
Burnley – Paul Jenkins
The Clarets don’t have an all-powerful sporting director, instead a ‘technical committee’, with Jenkins’ title as director of football development offering a wider scope across the club from first-team through to academy. Much of Jenkins’ career before Burnley was spent at Middlesbrough where he worked throughout the academy before landing at Turf Moor as academy director in 2021.
Chelsea – Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart
Chelsea’s approach is certainly… unique. Winstanley and Stewart are the co-sporting directors, heading up Chelsea’s five-man sporting leadership team. The others: Joe Shields is sporting director for scouting and talent; Sam Jewell is sporting director for global recruiting; and Dave Fallows arrived from Liverpool last year to lead football development, focusing on scouting and data, loans and player pathways, and overall football staff development. Too many cooks?
Crystal Palace – Matt Hobbs
Hobbs moved to become Palace’s sporting director in 2025 after three years in the same role at Wolves. At Molineux, Hobbs started in the academy recruitment team, before being promoted to the position of chief scout and head of player recruitment. He left Wolves by mutual consent two months before filling the vacancy at Palace created by Dougie Freedman’s departure.
Everton – Leadership team
The Toffees tried the director of football model with Kevin Thelwell but when he departed in 2025, they moved towards a leadership team approach. They hired ex-Man Utd academy manager Nick Cox as technical director; former City Football Group recruitment lead James Smith as director of scouting and recruitment; Chris Howarth, who worked with 14 clubs across Europe through his Insight Sport data consultancy, directs football strategy and analytics; and the vastly-experienced Nick Hammond leads player trading activity.
Fulham – Tony Khan
Son of the club’s owner Shahid Khan, the 43-year-old was first involved with Fulham’s transfer deals in 2016 and became sporting director a year later. He’s a busy boy, having founded All-Elite Wrestling and analytics company TruMedia Networks, all while retaining a role with his father’s NFL franchise.
Leeds United – Adam Underwood
Underwood was at Elland Road for more than a decade before being promoted to sporting director in 2025. He first arrived in 2014 as academy director, then serving as head of football operations from 2023.
Liverpool – Richard Hughes
Former Bournemouth midfielder Hughes moved to Anfield from the Cherries in 2024 to become sporting director, working with the returning Michael Edwards, who came back as FSG’s CEO of football. Hughes and Edwards first met over 20 years ago at Portsmouth where Hughes was a player while Edwards worked as a performance analyst after initially training as an IT teacher. Edwards went on to become sporting director at Liverpool, recruiting Jurgen Klopp as manager, before leaving in 2022, only to return two years later in a more senior role, hiring Hughes to his old position.
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Manchester City – Hugo Viana
When Pep Guardiola leaves City, the man responsible for replacing the irreplaceable will be ex-Newcastle midfielder Viana, appointed as the club’s sporting director in 2024 to take over from Txiki Begiristain. Prior to joining City, the 42-year-old held the same position at Sporting Lisbon.
Manchester United – Jason Wilcox
Ex-Blackburn winger Wilcox stepped into the director of football void left by Dan Ashworth when it the former Newcastle chief’s five-month spell at Old Trafford ended in late 2024. United hired Wilcox, initially as technical director, from Southampton, where he served as director of football. Prior to that, he was academy director at Manchester City, where he worked alongside Omar Berrada, now United’s CEO.
MORE: Jason Wilcox is absurdly one of football’s most powerful figures, in accordance with the prophecy
Newcastle United – Ross Wilson
Ashworth was initially Newcastle’s sporting director before his acrimonious exit in 2024. Paul Mitchell took over for less than a year before the Magpies hired Ross Wilson as sporting director in October 2025 after prising him away from Nottingham Forest. Eddie Howe advocated for Wilson, who has had similar roles at Huddersfield, Southampton and Rangers.
Nottingham Forest – Edu
The ex-Arsenal sporting director, once a handy midfielder, was appointed in summer 2025 as Forest’s head of global football, overseeing ‘all football-related functions, including recruitment, performance, squad strategy, and player development’. Reports suggest he’s already on borrowed time, which is all anyone has around Evangelos Marinakis.
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Sunderland – Kristjaan Speakman
Unusually, Sunderland have Speakman as sporting director and a director of football in Florent Ghisolfi, who was appointed last summer after serving as Roma sporting director. To be fair, there was plenty of work to go around on Wearside last summer, but the division of duties has not been made clear. Prior to his arrival in 2020, Speakman was academy director at Birmingham.
Tottenham Hotspur – Fabio Paratici and Johan Lange
Paratici and Lange serve Spurs as joint sporting directors, the former returning to the club in October 2025 two and a half years after a 30-month ban imposed by the Italian Football Federation forced his resignation as managing director of football. Lange initially joined Tottenham as technical director in 2023 from Aston Villa. He also worked in a similar role for FC Copenhagen and, prior to that, had a coaching stint at Wolves.
West Ham United – Mark Noble
The Hammers appointed former captain Noble as their sporting director in 2022 following his retirement as a player. We think he is still at his post, though there is no mention of the ex-midfielder on the who’s who section on the club’s website. The Telegraph suggest he has focused much of his energy towards the academy and, according to sources, does not have his own office. All seems rather odd, especially at a time when West Ham could use some leadership.
Wolves – Matt Jackson
Wolves appointed former Everton, Norwich and Wigan defender Jackson as technical director at the back end of 2025 following Domenico Teti’s departure after five months as director of professional football. Teti was appointed to work alongside Vitor Pereira, who was given more control over recruitment. Then he and eight of his staff were axed, with Teti following the coach through the door. Jackson was appointed shortly after Rob Edwards was lured from Middlesbrough as head coach. Upon retiring as a player, Jackson was an agent and a pundit before becoming head of football operations at Wigan. From there he moved to Molineux in 2021, working in a range of departments around a brief spell as president of Grasshoppers in Zurich.