Official! Mário Branco's brother joins Italian club; kin backs project | OneFootball

Historic Serie B side Sampdoria announced this Friday that Portuguese official Américo Branco — brother of Mário Branco, Benfica’s sporting director — is their new sporting director. The Italian club also revealed that the 35-year-old executive signed a contract valid for the next two seasons, until the summer of 2028.

The official will face a major challenge in rebuilding one of Italy’s historic clubs, which is in the second division and came very close to dropping (again this season) to the third tier. The Italian club even reached the 1991/92 Champions League final.

Américo Branco is embarking on a new stage in his career after spending the last few years as sporting director of Dutch side Fortuna Sittard. This season, the Dutch club finished 11th in the Eredivisie with 39 points.

Before his four-year spell in the Netherlands, Américo Branco worked at Olhanense, Académica and Tondela. It should also be noted that compatriot José Manuel Barbosa Alves, 35, will be the scouting coordinator. With this appointment, Américo Branco becomes the third Portuguese to serve as sporting director in Italian football, after Tiago Pinto — who spoke about Benfica — at Roma, and Carlos Freitas at Fiorentina.

CEO Jesper Fredberg highlighted his signing. "We worked tirelessly to reorganize the sporting management ahead of the new season... With these appointments, we are bringing in new expertise to ensure that we are on the right path to success. Together, we will lay the foundations for the coming years, starting with the appointment of a new head coach and an ambitious summer transfer window," he said.

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