Why Premier League sporting directors keep changing despite a brief for continuity | OneFootball

Sporting directors are meant to anchor long-term strategy, yet churn across the Premier League suggests continuity is slipping.

Manchester United hired Jason Wilcox in 2025 after John Murtough’s three-year stint. Arsenal’s Andrea Berta has been in post for 18 months after Edu’s spell of just under two years, and Liverpool moved from Julian Ward to Jorg Schmadtke before appointing Richard Hughes in 2024.

Elsewhere, recent arrivals include Rafi Moersen at Tottenham, Hugo Viana at Manchester City, and Tiago Pinto, who has led Bournemouth’s football operations since 2024, while Everton use a committee and Newcastle, Aston Villa and Brighton have all made recent appointments.

A former Premier League sporting director says the job’s power is spread across departments. “These are departments now. The power is often devolved and held by different people. But the cost of losing one person from that group is less than it was.” He was speaking to The Athletic.

A Bundesliga technical director, who has not worked in England, said: “The rules are different.” He added: “If something doesn’t work, throw it away!”

A president of a Europa League club said: “Boards want some level of influence, too. That’s a big thing.”

The upshot is that while the position remains central, clubs appear less reliant on one long-serving figure than they once were.

Source: NY Times

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”