Luis Campos explains his role as architect at PSG | OneFootball

You have proven to be an exceptional talent scout. At Monaco, with Bernardo Silva and Fabinho; at LOSC with Victor Osimhen and Rafael Leão; and since 2022 at PSG with Vitinha and João Neves, among others. In an era of globalized, hyperconnected, and ultra-competitive football, how do you manage to be the first to spot the good deals? A few years ago, I went to see Pedri play. It was the second time I saw him, I was already following him when he was playing at Las Palmas. It was a match of the Spanish under-17 team. There were six scouts on the sidelines watching him. After the matches, we often went out to dinner together, discussing and sharing our ideas and impressions. Today, that's become impossible. If you go to a U17 World Cup, there aren't just 5 but a thousand scouts! They fill an entire stand by themselves. This shows the importance scouting has taken in the world of football. The scouting I knew was different from today's. We didn't have video or all the extraordinary tools that exist now. We had to rely on our instinct, on our experience. We had to decipher and understand the player's personality. For example, the warm-up gives important indications about his character, concentration, and application. Watching him play in a match also allows you to gather a lot of information: his body language, his way of moving on the field, his way of playing with others, etc. The most difficult part of scouting is managing to project what you see on the field. You have to ask yourself if a player you observe in a specific situation will adapt to our context. It requires not only experience but also sensitivity.

Always being one step ahead, is that the Luis Campos method? We continue with the puzzle that is so dear to me. Every player has a price. When building a team, you must not exceed a total cost. Otherwise, you face serious problems, as was the case at Monaco where we had to change the entire project just a year after putting it on track. With the experience I've accumulated, I've created my own work philosophy, which I believe in a lot. I've developed a great scouting system. It is based on a simple principle: I always have lists of 9 players per position with 3 different prices at hand. For example, you have a budget of 40 million euros to recruit four players. If you spend 20 on the position where you need it most, you only have 20 million left for the rest of your transfer window. That means, to complete the puzzle, you have to pick from a less expensive list. But you still need to have one at hand. You know, I don't like to be surprised, I anticipate a lot. Anticipation is one of my great strengths. It's part of the scouting mindset. I like to be able to meet the expectations of the coach I work with. I'm here to listen to him, understand the project he wants to implement, and help him find the right players. When leading a project, it's very important to succeed in the mix between economic, sporting, and operational aspects. Today, we have machines in our kitchens that do all the cooking. You can have the money to buy the right vegetables, you can have the right vegetables, but you need to know the recipe to make a good soup."

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