The Director of Football has been part of Football Manager for a few versions now. The role has been fleshed out to incorporate their responsibilities throughout the game. The Director of Football forms part of your Recruitment Team on Football Manager which consists of the staff member responsible for player scouting and contracts.

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Do you want to find another type of backroom staff member? Check out the others below!

Best Assistant Managers in Football Manager 2023

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Although there is not an academic definition of a Director of Football, one can broadly define it as a senior executive with a sport-specific management remit. The Director of Football’s responsibilities might vary depending on several different factors such as; What country they work in, what league/level they operate in, and what type of club they are hired in. In Germany and Italy where the Director of Football has existed for quite a while, the Director of Football role might be more defined and clearer than perhaps in England where many clubs do not have a tradition of having a Director of Football, before now.

In days gone by, it used to be that the manager was the supreme leader of a football club. They would be directly involved in almost every aspect of the club, be it training sessions, working on transfers and contracts or laying foundations for the future. The buck stopped with them. The presence of a director of football acts as an intermediary between the manager and the board and may relieve pressure on a manager by handling aspects away from day-to-day coaching, allowing a manager to focus on on-pitch performance. Those who take up roles as directors of football usually have a history in the sport and a wide network of contacts, while others simply have a background in similar administrative roles.

The Director of Football was introduced on Football Manager in order to relieve some of your tasks in transfers and contract negotiations. Giving them too much power may hurt your side in the long run as his transfer policy and responsibilities can differ from what’s required of your preferred tactics and playing style.

Why hire a Director of Football?

With the growing financial risk in the transfer market, the majority of premier league clubs have now hired a Director of Football (or equivalent) to make the success rate of transfer as high as possible. The recent need for a Director of Football might be justified by what the experts call “demand-pull inflation” which the football industry is now experiencing. Briefly explained, this is the scenario where there is an increase in the supply of resources (money……mostly tv-money) while the supply of goods stays the same (players). Clubs get more transfer funds, while the number of world-class players available to buy stays constant. Consequently, the prices for players go through the roof. Hiring a Director of Football with, for instance, a business background and football knowledge might be ideal to minimize the financial risks associated with sporting decisions. This is exactly what the majority of Premier League clubs have been doing in the last few years.

Compared to the Technical Director who has more responsibility regarding staff recruitment, the Director of Football has responsibilities linked to players. If you have the luxury of being able to recruit or your club already has a Technical Director and Director of Football recruited then it is vital that you disseminate their responsibilities in a way that uses the roles to their full effect.

The Director of Football can undertake numerous roles on Football Manager including:

• Recruiting players
• Handling incoming transfer offers
• Negotiating player contracts
• Assigning scouts assignments
• Attending press conferences
• Support with tactical decisions including opposition instructions
• Support with touchline instructions during matches

Understanding staff responsibilities can be difficult if you do not know where to look. In order to assign the Director of Football to the roles that you would like to undertake navigate to the following page on Football Manager:
Staff > Responsibilities

Within the staff responsibilities, if you have a Director of Football recruited you’ll be able to assign certain responsibilities.

Historically, the recruitment of a Director of Football and how effective the role is has mixed results. Arguably, the most successful Director of Football is Manchester City’s Txiki Begiristain. Begiristain is the man responsible for some great Barcelona signings, including Dani Alves, Rafa Marquez, Yaya Toure and Eric Abidal. At Manchester City, he has been responsible for many successful transfers since being their Director of Football.

What staff attributes should I look for when recruiting a Director of Football?

Given the responsibilities that can be assigned to a Director of Football, it stands to reason that Judging Player Ability, Judging Player Potential and Negotiating are the main staff attributes to look for.

See the table below which includes staff with the recommended staff attributes rated at least 15.

Name	Nat	Age	Club	Judge Ability	Judge Potential	Negotiating
Monchi	ESP	53	Sevilla	18	20	18
Mateu Alemany	ESP	58	Barcelona	15	15	19
Federico García	MEX	48		17	17	18
Dan Ashworth	ENG	51	Newcastle	15	20	17
Leonardo	BRA	52		16	17	16
Txiki Begiristain	ESP	57	Man City	18	17	15
Andrea Berta	ITA	45	Atlético	16	18	15
Zeljko Buvac	BIH	60	Dinamo Moscow	17	18	15
Luís Campos	POR	57	PSG	18	20	18
Federico Cherubini	ITA	51	Juventus	18	18	16
Cristiano Giuntoli	ITA	50	Parthenope	18	18	16
Antonio Cordón	ESP	58	Betis	18	18	15
Sven Mislintat	GER	49	Stuttgart	15	19	15
Omar Hufstader	USA	46		16	17	17
Max Eberl	GER	48		16	18	15
Michael Edwards	ENG	42		17	17	19
Paul Mitchell	ENG	40	Monaco	18	18	15
Andray Modeste	GRN	43		15	17	17
Fabio Paratici	ITA	49	Tottenham	20	20	15
Igli Tare	ALB	48	Lazio	16	16	17
Mikel Uriarte	ESP	45		17	16	17
Marcus Mann	GER	38	Hannover	18	19	17
Florian Maurice	FRA	48	Rennes	15	16	15
Luís Gonçalves	POR	69	FC Porto	16	18	17
Alexandre Mattos	BRA	44	Athletico Paranaense	17	15	15
Piero Ausilio	ITA	49	Inter	16	15	16
Cléber Romualdo	BRA	57	ABC	15	15	15
Massimiliano Notari	ITA	50	Parma	15	17	15
Roberto Olabe	ESP	54	Real Sociedad	16	17	15
Sandro Orlandelli	BRA	51	RB Bragantino	16	16	15
Victor Orta	ESP	43	Leeds	17	19	16
Carlo Osti	ITA	64	Sampdoria	16	16	15
Marc Overmars	NED	49	Antwerp	15	15	15
Matt Crocker	WAL	47	Southampton	17	17	17
Dimitri de Condé	BEL	47	KRC Genk	15	16	15
Giovanni Rossi	ITA	56	Sassuolo	15	15	15
Oliver Ruhnert	GER	49	Union Berlin	16	16	17
Rouven Schröder	GER	46	Schalke 04	18	19	17
Nelson Rodriguez	USA	37		15	17	17
Ramón Tejada	ESP	48	Huesca	16	15	15
Philip Giles	ENG	46	Brentford	15	16	18
Julian Ward	ENG	41	Liverpool	15	15	15
Ross Wilson	SCO	39	Rangers	15	15	18
Massimo Taibi	ITA	52	Reggina	16	16	15
Paulo Carneiro	BRA	71		16	18	18
Oleg Yarovinskiy	RUS	40	Rubin	17	15	17

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