Who is Luis Campos? Sporting director who found Kylian Mbappe 'under consideration' at Arsenal

Arsenal are on the lookout for a new sporting director to replace recently departed Edu, with the latest reports suggesting the ideal candidate may be found at Paris Saint-Germain.

Advisor to the French champions, Luis Campos, is the new name associated with partnering Mikel Arteta to continue ' proactive nature in the transfer market that has seen them close the gap to Manchester City in recent years.

claim that the former AS Monaco and Lille man is 'in the mix' to arrive to the Emirates Stadium next summer, as it coincides with the expiry of his current contract in the French capital.

READ MORE:

READ MORE:

Of course, whoever takes on the role will have big shoes to fill after the work Edu carried out over the last five years. The 46-year-old had a say on every aspect of the club's strategy from first-team transfers right through to Under-8's level football, just to prove how vast an area he covered.

sent shockwaves through the club, as co-owner made a statement of intent to recruit somebody who will build upon the foundations with winning trophies in mind.

So, if Campos is the man, he has a lot to live up to. football.london is taking a dive into the 60-year-old's credentials to determine if he fits the description of what Arsenal need...

Playing career cut short

Hailing from the Esposende region of Portugal, Campos began his venture into football as a right-sided full-back at local teams Fao and Esposende. His career would only last a total of five years though, officially retiring in 1985.

By the age of 27 he had overcome the end of his playing career by taking up coaching in the amateur levels of the Portuguese system. Over the course of the 90s he would advance to the point of becoming a Primera Liga coach.

He notably had two spells with Gil Vicente, and was the man who ended Jose Mourinho's 27-game unbeaten streak with Porto in the 2003/04 campaign.

Move towards sporting director

Campos would gradually transition into roles in football behind the scenes, rather than in the dugout. The first he is credited with was actually working under Mourinho as a tactical analyst at Real Madrid.

It was as a sporting director he would make his name, though. In 2013 he joined Ligue 1 club AS Monaco in this position, holding this position for three years, by which point the foundations were laid for the club to topple their division's dominant force, PSG, and win the 2016/17 title.

In 2017 he took up the same position with Lille. He would spend another three years there, only leaving after the club's ownership changed hands, but again the impact he made was vital in them beating PSG to the Ligue 1 title in the 2020/21 campaign.

Evidently, the club from the capital got a sense of 'if you can't beat them, sign them', and so PSG have employed the former coach as an advisor since 2022. According to , this entails him taking a 'focus on the performance, recruitment, and the organisational side' of the team.

Notable signings

As sporting director of Monaco and Lille, plus advisor to PSG, Campos has been responsible for so many notable signings he as having 'the Midas touch'.

If he would be able to emulate his work from the following list of recruits, this at Arsenal then there is clear reason to suggest his appointment would be a no-brainer:

AS Monaco (2013-16)

James Rodriguez - FC Porto, £37m, 2013

Radamel Falcao - Atletico Madrid, £35.8m, 2013

Joao Moutinho - FC Porto, £20.8m, 2013

Bernardo Silva - Benfica, £13.1m, 2014

Fabinho - Rio Ave, £5m, 2015

Anthony Martial - Lyon B, £4.1m, 2013

Allan Saint-Maximin - Saint-Etienne, £4.1m, 2016

Thomas Lemar - SM Caen, £3.3m, 2015

Lille

Victor Osimhen - Royal Charleroi SC, £17m, 2019

Rafael Leao - Sporting CP, £16.8m, 2018

Renato Sanches - Bayern Munich, £16.6m, 2019

Nicolas Pepe - Angers, £15m, 2017

PSG

Randal Kolo Muani - Eintracht Frankfurt, £79.2m, 2023

Goncalo Ramos - Benfica, £54.2m, 2023

Joao Neves - Benfica, £49.9m, 2024

Ousmane Dembele - Barcelona, £41.7m, 2023

Desire Doue - Stade Rennais, £41.7m, 2024

Bradley Barcola - Lyon, £37.5m, 2023

Vitinha - FC Porto, £34.6m, 2022

Willian Pacho - Eintracht Frankfurt, £33.3m, 2024

Nuno Mendes - Sporting CP, £31.7m, 2022

Fabian Ruiz - Napoli, £18.7m, 2022

Carlos Soler - Valencia, £15m, 2022

Renato Sanches - Lille, £12.5m, 2022

Nordi Mukiele - RB Leipzig, £10m, 2022

Software development

The key factor in Campos' success as a recruiter and the reason Arsenal may be so attracted is his eagerness to develop and implement modern techniques to give the clubs he has worked for the cutting edge in recruitment.

When working with Real Madrid, he helped create the . Monaco then eventually used the software to uncover the likes of Mbappe, Silva and Fabinho, and the rest is history.

Back in 2019 Campos was then seeking to establish the next step in scouting with a revolutionary new system clubs could use to determine whether a player is suitable using social media.

Via , he explained: "At this moment I am developing software because itʼs very important. Sometimes we make mistakes, we take a guy with top technique or who is very strong and physical but they are not a good person. I believe, and the top university psychology department I am working with also believes, that itʼs possible to use social media as a photograph of the mentality of a player.

"When we finish this software we will surprise everyone. For example, if at the moment a player has a problem he sends an aggressive tweet very fast, this is an emotional player, a player who canʼt stay calm.

"If in his Instagram he is always at parties or on a boat or in a disco? So you take every social media post and more.

"Also, and this is a big surprise to me, the birth sign. This has influence too. I develop this just for me, but soon it will be for everyone, like my database Scouting System Pro."

The situation in Paris

As mentioned, Campos is due to become available next summer when his contract as PSG's advisor runs out.

Over the two years he has been with the club, there has been a noticeable shift in transfer policy from seeking out star names such as Mbappe, Neymar Jr and Lionel Messi to instead signing youthful talent, like Neves, Barcola and Pacho.

It hasn't been an exactly calm ride, however, as at different points he has been speculated to leave before the end of his contract. On those occasions Real Madrid were credited with interest or he was said to stand against the president's decision to banish Mbappe during his 2023 contract dispute.

Coming back to the original links to Campos, Arsenal are reportedly looking at him as an option alongside Bayer Leverkusen's Simon Rolfes and Roberto Olabe, who is stepping down at Real Sociedad this summer.