Pablo Longoria

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Fernández and the second or maternal family name is Longoria.

Pablo Fernández Longoria (born 9 June 1986)^[1] is a Spanish football executive. On 26 February 2021, he was named President of Olympique de Marseille, succeeding Jacques-Henri Eyraud.

Pablo Longoria
Born	Pablo Fernández Longoria (1986-06-09) 9 June 1986 (age 36) Oviedo, Spain
Occupation	President of Olympique de Marseille

Early life and career

Born in Oviedo, Pablo Longoria began at 12 to watch football matches every day as a hobby.^[2] A supporter of Sporting Gijón,^[3] he enjoys video games such as FIFA 2000 and Football Manager and gained from them a deep knowledge of players and tactical aspects of football.^[4] In 2005 he gained work experience with the agent Eugenio Botas who works most notably with the Spanish manager Marcelino García Toral. Marcelino, as manager of Recreativo de Huelva (from 2005 to 2007) then of Racing Santander (from 2007 to 2008), relied on the analysis of the young Longoria while building his team.^[5][4]

Career

Longoria began his career as a media consultant with Radio Marca after having been spotted by the journalist Axel Torres on the forum Soccerole.com, which he led.^[6] At the same time, he began a career as a scout at the English club Newcastle United in November 2007.^[7] He didn't stay there very long however, before becoming head scout at Recreativo de Huelva in February 2009. He later revealed that he wished to hire the Portuguese manager André Villas-Boas as head coach at the club. Villas-Boas signed instead with Académica de Coimbra.^[8]

In December 2010, he became a scout at Atalanta, then in the Italian Serie B. After 3 years at the club, he joined Sassuolo in July 2013 as head scout, before joining Juventus in August 2015. Notably, he was the origin of the decision to sign the Uruguayan midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur.^[9][5]

Longoria, who can speak 6 languages (Spanish, French, English, Italian, Portuguese and German), became sporting director of Valencia in February 2018. Famous for his work, he has said that he watches seven or eight matches of football most days.^[10]

Marseille

Longoria was named sporting director of Marseille on 26 July 2020, succeeding his compatriot Andoni Zubizarreta.^[9][11] He initially declared his intention to work for the club for five years, with the objective of stabilizing Marseille as one of the 20 best European clubs.^[12][13] Later however he stated that he wanted to stay at Marseille for a long time, making it his “last great adventure”.^[14] During his time at the club, he invested in youth, bringing in players such as the Brazilian Luis Henrique, and heightening the clubs scouting reach in Africa.^{[citation needed]}

On 26 February 2021, he was named president of Marseille with responsibility for the financial and sporting sectors of the club.^[15] Longoria is the youngest president of the club since 1909.^[16] He brought in Jorge Sampaoli to succeed Nasser Larguet, the interim manager following the departure of André Villas-Boas.^[17]

References

1. "OM : Pablo Longoria fête aujourd'hui ses 35 ans". 9 June 2021.
2. "¿Quién es Pablo Longoria?". www.superdeporte.es. 25 February 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
3. Quentin Migliarini (27 February 2021). "L'impressionnante ascension de Pablo Longoria, promu président de l'OM à 34 ans". rmcsport.bfmtv.com. Retrieved 28 February 2021..
4. "OM. Pablo Longoria, de Fifa 2000 à la présidence de l'Olympique de Marseille". ouest-france.fr. 27 February 2021. Retrieved 28 February 2021..
5. Antoine Donnarieix (28 February 2021). "Pablo Longoria, lui président..." So Foot. Retrieved 28 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link).
6. "Longoria : un "head of football" au profil de "head of scouting"". www.eurosport.fr. 26 July 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
7. "OM : qui est Pablo Longoria, le futur directeur du football ?". www.rmcsport.bfmtv.com. 25 July 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
8. "OM Talk Show spécial : Pablo Longoria répond vos questions". www.lephoceen.fr. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
9. "Pablo Longoria (nouveau directeur sportif de l'OM) : « Des ambitions sur cinq ans »". www.lequipe.fr. 13 August 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
10. "Pablo Longoria : du « Niño de la Play » à « Head of Football » de l'OM". www.furialiga.fr. 25 July 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
11. "Communiqué officiel de l'OM". www.om.fr. 26 July 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
12. "Pablo Longoria : "Je serai là pour les cinq prochaines années"". www.ledauphine.com. 23 October 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
13. "Pablo Longoria veut placer l'OM dans les 20 meilleures équipes d'Europe". www.footmercato.net. 16 September 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
14. "Longoria esclusivo: "Il mio Marsiglia scuola Juve"". tuttosport.com (in Italian). Retrieved 2022-04-20.
15. "Communiqué officiel de l'OM". om.fr (in French). 26 February 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2021..
16. "OM Champions Project, place à l'acte II". sofoot.com (in French). 26 February 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2021..
17. "Communiqué officiel de l'OM". ouest-france.fr (in French). 26 February 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2021..