Real Madrid Categorically Deny Plans to Appoint Sporting Director

Madrid—Real Madrid moved swiftly on Friday to quash speculation that the club is preparing to create a sporting-director role, issuing an unequivocal statement that branded the suggestion “completely false.”

The denial followed a Thursday-night report on Cadena SER’s El Larguero programme, which claimed the Spanish giants were exploring a structural overhaul that would see an external candidate installed to oversee football operations. According to the broadcast, a consultancy firm had already begun compiling a shortlist, a move that would potentially dilute the influence of long-serving general manager José Ángel Sánchez.

Within hours, the 14-time European champions released a terse communiqué: “Real Madrid C. F. informs that the information … claiming that our club is considering adding a sporting director to its structure is completely false. Real Madrid greatly values the work carried out by the club’s sporting management, which has allowed us to experience one of the most successful periods in our history, including the achievement of numerous titles, among them 6 European Cups in ten years.”

The club’s current decision-making model places president Florentino Pérez at the apex, advised by general manager Sánchez, head scout Juni Calafat and former first-team coach Santiago Solari, who retains an advisory brief on transfers. Any insertion of a new sporting director would represent the most significant administrative shake-up since Sánchez was promoted to his present post.

Cadena SER’s story had hinted that Pérez was open to reform after back-to-back domestic campaigns that failed to yield La Liga glory, and that Calafat himself had been under internal review after a series of market moves that did not meet expectations. While the club did not address those specifics, Friday’s statement effectively closes the door—at least publicly—on immediate structural change.

With a summer of anticipated squad surgery on the horizon and the managerial position also potentially in flux, Real Madrid have drawn a clear line in the sand: the hierarchy that delivered six Champions League trophies in a decade remains intact, and no sporting director will be walking through the doors of Valdebebas any time soon.