Why would a departure from Luis Campos be a disaster for Lille?

A centerpiece of sports in Lille

As Gérard Lopez himself specifies, Luis Campos is under contract with LOSC "via his company", Scoutly Limited. Officially, he is a sports consultant. But the title of "sports director" might be more appropriate. The Portuguese has provided most of the transfers in the North since October 2016. Coach Christophe Galtier summarized the club's organization chart in August 2019, satisfied with the double of Victor Osimhen against Nantes (2-1) for his debut: "C ' is a player identified by Luis Campos since last winter. […] President Gérard Lopez allowed us to obtain it. ” Thus, rumors of a departure from Campos last November were already weakening the Mastiffs. "He stays with us," replied Lopez at the microphone of RMC Sport.. The project is far from over. ” The LOSC had then lost two assistants dear to Galtier: Nuno Santos and João Sacramento, who left for José Mourinho's Tottenham. A departure from Luis Campos would seriously jeopardize the Lille project, already outraged by rumors - quickly denied - of contacts between Galtier and Olympique de Marseille.

The best of Osimhen in Lille

An outstanding recruiter ...

Under the leadership of Luis Campos, Lille has successfully recruited quality employees. Nicolas Pépé, Thiago Mendes, bought for less than 20M € in the summer of 2017, were among the executives of the team that finished dolphin of PSG in 2018-19. Last summer, Benjamin André, one of the best midfielders in Ligue 1 and in the prime of life, left Stade Rennais for only € 7M. With 13 goals for his debut in France, Victor Osimhen (21), recruited for € 12 million in Charleroi, seems to be a good deal. "Victor is a good example of the anticipatory work that is the key to our project," rejoiced Gérard Lopez in our columns last September. Campos has also taken advantage of its Portuguese network: the experienced defender José Fonte joined LOSC for free two years ago. He is now its captain. The bet Renato Sanches, which cost 20M € to eradicate it from Bayern Munich, is successful.

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… And an excellent seller

In the Pépé-Mendes duo, Lille achieved a capital gain of € 80 million in just two years. The first left for Arsenal when the second signed in Lyon. The LOSC also recovered Ballo-Touré, left free by PSG in 2017, and sold it for € 11 million in Monaco a year and a half later. An amount identical to that for Martin Terrier, trained at the club and transferred to Lyon. Yves Bissouma, Ibrahim Amadou and Kévin Malcuit reported a total of around € 45 million in the summer of 2018, which did not prevent the Mastiffs from finishing 2nd in Ligue 1. Finally, Victor Osimhen should in turn panic the counters in case of departure this interseason. And yet, the LOSC refuses to sell certain players. "There was an offer of € 70 million for Jonathan Ikoné from Italy", revealed President Lopez a few months ago.

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