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Hugo Viana: Who is Manchester City's new director of football?

Following the announcement that Hugo Viana will replace Txiki Begiristain as Manchester City's director of football at the end of the season, let’s examine how the 41-year-old went from playing football in Portugal to becoming a successful football director.

Hugo Viana: Who is Manchester City's new director of football?
Hugo Viana (Credits - Sky Sports)

Viana was never an outspoken man; as a player, his grace and elegance spoke for him and it still does now that he has "moved upstairs."

It is easily forgotten that Viana was one of the stars in the Sporting Clube de Portugal side that won the Portuguese Liga in 2002 alongside fellow teenager Cristiano Ronaldo. It has been strokes of his pen and decisions in the boardroom, rather than sweeps of his gifted left foot, that have taken Sporting back to the summit - and attracted Man City.

Twenty years ago, Newcastle United witnessed some of the latter traits. Viana's delectable free-kick at The Hawthorns, which earned Newcastle a 2-2 draw at West Bromwich Albion in the final match of 2002/03, dropped a hint of what could have been.

During his four years at Newcastle, Viana made 39 Premier League appearances, contributing two goals and six assists.

Viana's time in the Premier League had a significant impact on him, even though England didn't quite suit him as a player. He worked under Sir Bobby Robson, who turned the then-European Young Footballer of the Year into a personal project.

The lessons Viana learned in England helped him forge a successful playing career, particularly at Valencia and Braga, despite being hampered by injuries, and he has continued to consume English football voraciously from afar ever since.

How was Hugo Viana's tenure as director of Sporting CP?

Hugo Viana: Who is Manchester City's new director of football?
Hugo Viana (Credits - Goal.com)

He has partly ended up following in the footsteps of his guide. After taking over as sporting director in 2018, Viana, like Robson, oversaw a dysfunctional team that was in dire need of some loving care. He had only been in a similar position for six months at Belenenses, which is about eight miles south of Sporting's Estadio Jose Alvalade.

Viana was given time to work, in contrast to his English mentor Robson, who was fired as coach in December 1993 (and went on to achieve great success at rivals Porto). In the six years that followed, Viana generously returned President Frederico Varandas' trust.

Yannick Bolasie, a former winger for Crystal Palace and Everton who joined Viana's Sporting in 2019, did, in fact, quip that the sporting director "always had good talent ID." 

The most prominent recent example is Viktor Gyokeres, who reportedly paid a club-record €20 million in the summer of 2023 to joined from Championship team Coventry City. Gyokeres became one of the most sought-after attackers on the continent after scoring 43 goals in the previous campaign.

Elsewhere, there is Morten Hjulmand, the Danish midfielder who also arrived that summer and has taken on the captaincy following the exit of Sebastian Coates, the long-serving former Liverpool defender. Hjulmand has smoothly transitioned into the position.

Yet, Viana's finest purchase at Sporting wasn't a player. He risked paying Braga a reported €10 million release fee for Ruben Amorim in March 2020, just over two months after the 35-year-old took over as manager of Viana's former club.

Only two coaches in history had cost more in compensation at the time - Villas-Boas and Brendan Rodgers. Viana received two titles from Amorim in a span of four years. The 2021 success was Sporting’s first since Viana's vintage some 19 years previously, and was followed by last season's 2023/24 triumph.

Sporting has outperformed relative financial powerhouses Benfica and Porto to become the best team in Portugal thanks in part to Amorim.

Without Viana, who has sold on players like Bruno Fernandes, Pedro Porro, Joao Palhinha, and Manuel Ugarte, he would not have been able to accomplish his goal. Instead, he would have had to replace them with players like Gyokeres, Hjulmand, Pedro Goncalves, and Francisco Trincao, who could easily be the next big exports.

It was always going to take a challenge the size of the City to move Viana. Viana has the sangfroid to strike the ideal balance whether he is entrusted with continuity or a rebuild at Etihad Stadium. Viana will now return to England, where, although his career as a player didn't work out, he will undoubtedly succeed as a sporting director for one of the league's top teams.

Cover Credits - Goal.com

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