They go by a variety of titles but these are the men who carry the clout in the Premier League, the hirers and the firers\u2026<\/p>\n
Sporting director, director of football, president of football operations, technical director\u2026 the real powerbrokers in the Premier League operate largely in the shadows, leaving the coaches and managers to face all the scrutiny.<\/p>\n
To that extent, there will be names on this list you won\u2019t recognise, much less likely are you to be able to pick some out of an identity parade.<\/p>\n
But these are the individuals or groups making the big decisions that will dictate the long-term future of every Premier League club\u2026<\/p>\n
Arsenal \u2013 Andrea Berta<\/p>\n
Berta, 54, became sporting director\u00a0at Arsenal in 2025, taking over from Edu. The Italian\u2019s background was in banking prior to executive roles at\u00a0Carpenedolo, Parma and Genoa. He then spent 12 years at Atletico Madrid, first as technical director before becoming sporting director in 2017. Berta helped shape Atletico\u2019s squad and is credited with an influence in the signings of the likes of Antoine Griezmann, Rodri and Jan Oblak. The Rojiblancos won two La Liga titles, the Europa League, and reached two Champions League finals under Diego Simeone on Berta\u2019s watch.<\/p>\n
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Aston Villa \u2013\u00a0Roberto Olabe<\/p>\n
Villa operate a little differently these days in the wake of Monchi\u2019s exit. Owners\u00a0Wes Edens, Nassef Sawiris and Michael Angelakis have put their faith in the manager, Unai Emery, to build the team around him, rather than place one of their men between themselves and a head coach. Olabe, the former Real Sociedad sporting director, was appointed as president of football operations in late 2025. The 58-year-old played with Emery at La Real, and had a very brief spell as coach before taking executive roles. Olabe is credited with a leading role in establishing Real Sociedad as a force, signing the likes of Alexander Isak and Martin Zubimendi along the way.<\/p>\n
Olabe also works in tandem with Damian Vidagany, who Emery brought with him to Villa Park to serve as director of football operations. Vidagany, a former journalist, first encountered Emery at Valencia when the former Vidagany was working in Los Che\u2019s media and marketing sections. According to The Athletic, \u2018Vidagany is Emery\u2019s eyes and ears, a bridge between the football and non-football departments and between the dressing room and management.\u2019 Emery, though, is one of few Premier League bosses above whom are only the owners.<\/p>\n
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Bournemouth \u2013 Tiago Pinto<\/p>\n
Pinto, 41, served as director of football at Benfica and general manager at Roma before becoming the Cherries\u2019 president of football operations in 2024. He works in tandem with technical director Simon Francis, the ex-Bournemouth defender who stepped into Richard Hughes\u2019 shoes when the now-Liverpool chief departed for Anfield in 2024.<\/p>\n
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Brentford \u2013 Phil Giles<\/p>\n
Giles has been director of football at Brentford for more than a decade, overseeing their ascent to the Premier League. A former Newcastle season-ticket holder with a PhD in statistics, Giles worked with Matthew Benham in the gambling industry before Benham became the Bees\u2019 majority shareholder, steering the club towards a date-driven approach. Giles works with technical director Lee Dykes who oversees the club\u2019s recruitment. Between them all, they\u2019ve worked bloomin\u2019 miracles.<\/p>\n
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Brighton \u2013 Jason Ayto<\/p>\n
Ayto was appointed as sporting director in September 2025,\u00a0overseeing \u2018all footballing areas of the club including player recruitment, performance and medical for the club\u2019s senior men\u2019s and women\u2019s teams and academies\u2019. The 40-year-old moved to the AmEx following more than a decade at Arsenal, working his way up from analyst to chief scout to assistant sporting director under Edu before filling in as interim sporting director between the Brazilian and Berta.<\/p>\n
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Burnley \u2013 Paul Jenkins<\/p>\n
The Clarets don\u2019t have an all-powerful sporting director, instead a \u2018technical committee\u2019, with Jenkins\u2019 title as director of football development offering a wider scope across the club from first-team through to academy. Much of Jenkins\u2019 career before Burnley was spent at Middlesbrough where he worked throughout the academy before landing at Turf Moor as academy director in 2021.<\/p>\n
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Chelsea \u2013\u00a0Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart<\/p>\n
Chelsea\u2019s approach is certainly\u2026 unique. Winstanley and Stewart are the co-sporting directors, heading up Chelsea\u2019s five-man sporting leadership team. The others: Joe Shields is sporting director for scouting and talent; Sam Jewell is sporting director for global recruiting; and Dave Fallows arrived from Liverpool last year\u00a0to lead football development, focusing on scouting and data, loans and player pathways, and overall football staff development. Too many cooks?<\/p>\n
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Crystal Palace \u2013 Matt Hobbs<\/p>\n
Hobbs moved to become Palace\u2019s sporting director in 2025 after three years in the same role at Wolves. At Molineux, Hobbs started in the academy recruitment team, before being promoted to the position of chief scout and head of player recruitment. He left Wolves by mutual consent two months before filling the vacancy at Palace created by Dougie Freedman\u2019s departure.<\/p>\n
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Everton \u2013 Leadership team<\/p>\n
The Toffees tried the director of football model with Kevin Thelwell but when he departed in 2025, they moved towards a leadership team approach. They hired ex-Man Utd academy manager Nick Cox as technical director; former City Football Group recruitment lead James Smith as director of scouting and recruitment; Chris Howarth, who worked with 14 clubs across Europe through his Insight Sport data consultancy, directs football strategy and analytics; and the vastly-experienced Nick Hammond leads player trading activity.<\/p>\n
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Fulham \u2013 Tony Khan<\/p>\n
Son of the club\u2019s owner Shahid Khan, the 43-year-old was first involved with Fulham\u2019s transfer deals in 2016 and became sporting director a year later. He\u2019s a busy boy, having founded All-Elite Wrestling and analytics company TruMedia Networks, all while retaining a role with his father\u2019s NFL franchise.<\/p>\n
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Leeds United \u2013 Adam Underwood<\/p>\n
Underwood was at Elland Road for more than a decade before being promoted to sporting director in 2025. He first arrived in 2014 as academy director, then serving as head of football operations from 2023.<\/p>\n
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Liverpool \u2013 Richard Hughes<\/p>\n
Former Bournemouth midfielder Hughes moved to Anfield from the Cherries in 2024 to become sporting director, working with the returning Michael Edwards, who came back as FSG\u2019s CEO of football. Hughes and Edwards first met over 20 years ago at Portsmouth where Hughes was a player while Edwards worked as a performance analyst after initially training as an IT teacher. Edwards went on to become sporting director at Liverpool, recruiting Jurgen Klopp as manager, before leaving in 2022, only to return two years later in a more senior role, hiring Hughes to his old position.<\/p>\n
MORE: Richard Hughes on F365<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Manchester City \u2013 Hugo Viana<\/p>\n When Pep Guardiola leaves City, the man responsible for replacing the irreplaceable will be ex-Newcastle midfielder Viana, appointed as the club\u2019s sporting director in 2024 to take over from\u00a0Txiki Begiristain. Prior to joining City, the 42-year-old held the same position at Sporting Lisbon.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Manchester United \u2013 Jason Wilcox<\/p>\n Ex-Blackburn winger Wilcox stepped into the director of football void left by Dan Ashworth when it the former Newcastle chief\u2019s five-month spell at Old Trafford ended in late 2024. United hired Wilcox, initially as technical director,\u00a0 from Southampton, where he served as director of football. Prior to that, he was academy director at Manchester City, where he worked alongside Omar Berrada, now United\u2019s CEO.<\/p>\n