Today Jack Pitt-Brooke, James Horncastle and Rory Smith discuss the most wonderful time of the year: the transfer market between football executives. They ask why we have become so fascinated by sporting directors, and why some of them have become almost as famous as the players themselves.

James explains the history of the role in Italy, and Rory and Jack try to work out when and why it finally became a big part of the Premier League landscape. (39:46) They try to pick apart what the role actually does, whether you want a Monchi, a Fabio Paratici or a Michael Edwards, and what best practice recruitment actually looks like in 2025.

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