Who is Carlos Avina, AS Monaco’s rising technical director? | OneFootball

AS Monaco technical director Carlos Avina has seen his remit broaden since late January, taking a deeper role across team management, medical and performance. The 35-year-old Mexican is now exerting wider oversight at the club.

According to Nice-Matin, the Mexico City native found his calling as a teenager, inspired by a football-obsessed family and trips to the stands with his grandfather. Away from La Turbie, he focuses on being a father to two children born in the Principality, a boy aged two and a girl of six months.

A Pumas fan who admired Real Madrid, Roma and the Monaco side of compatriot Rafael Marquez, Avina was a standout No 10. Club America offered him a trial at 15 and he impressed, but he followed his parents’ wish to prioritise studies, then resolved to become a sporting director, learning his trade in Mexico and at Cercle Bruges.

Inside Monaco he is viewed as a quick study, known for pressing hard on recruitment cases and for his grasp of the French market. In the Principality it is said Avina and chief executive Thiago Scuro are closely aligned.

One agent has criticised Avina and Scuro for handling last summer’s Paul Pogba, Ansu Fati and Eric Dier dossiers on their own, though within recruitment decisions are described as collective. The arrivals of Lamine Camara, Kassoum Ouattara and Christian Mawissa were planned by Avina with the scouting team.

An agent’s view is that mastering Monaco’s specific context is key, including targeting players eager to progress at the club and prioritising the best young talents from Ligue 1. Supporters demand results, and outcomes will judge him. Monaco may not be Avina’s end point, but he is seen as focused on the job and well placed within the hierarchy.

Source: Nice-Matin