Who is Antonio Cordon?

By Stephen Kountourou

After the 2022/23 season disaster, Olympiakos needed to act fast in bringing in the right people to steer the club back to where the club and fans are accustomed. One of the biggest problems when looking back on the campaign just gone, was the evident lack of vision and organisation for building the squad, properly preparing the team for both the League and Europe and which manager was right to lead the team into the next era for the long term. This is where Antonio Cordon comes in.

The Spanish Sports Director already came with a big reputation when he officially signed for Thrylos on the 1st of June on a three-year deal. But the fact that he has already spent the last two weeks chasing managers and recommending players before he was officially announced, shows early signs of just how excellent this appointment could be for the future of Olympiakos. But who exactly is Antonio Cordon? 

Cordon worked for several years as a team coach at San Augustin College and as a PE teacher, before becoming a scout as his first break in the professional game. He took on his first Sports Director role in 2000 when he joined Villareal. He would spend the next 16 years there during which the yellow submarine reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2005/06, finished as runners-up in Laliga in 2007/08, and reached the Europa League semi-finals in 2010/11. 

During his tenure as Sports Director, he brought in a whole host of talented players that succeeded at the club. Names include Diego Godin, Antonio Valencia, Gonzalo Rodríguez, Mateo Musacchio, Cristian Zapata, Gabriel Paulista, Luciano Vietto and Eric Bailly just to name a few.  

After a successful 16 years at Villareal, he left and joined AS Monaco where he had an instant impact. With key signings including Djibril Sidibé, Benjamin Mendy and Kamil Glik, along with an already talented squad, Monaco won the Ligue 1 title, reach the final of the  

Coupe de la Ligue, and the semi-finals of the Champions League. 

Cordon is also credited with the handling of then-17-year-old Kylian Mbappe as he not only convinced Monaco to offer him a new contract but made the decision to have him as part of the squad for that season and he was rewarded for his faith in the French wunderkind who scored 26 goals in 44 matches. 

The following summer was equally successful for the Spaniard as he helped Monaco accumulate 500 million Euros in profit from transfers, including the sales of Mbappe, initially on loan to PSG, Bernardo Silva and Mendy to Manchester City, Bakayoko to Chelsea and Fabinho to Liverpool. 

After 18 months Cordon was then convinced to become CEO of Hope Group, a multi-club project owned by Chinese Businessman John Jiang. The teams owned at the time by Hope Group included Parma, Tondela, Granada and Chongqing Lifan. Particular successes during his time as CEO included seeing Granada being promoted to La Liga and Parma who fell as low as Serie C, returning to the top flight of Italian football. 

Cordon then tried his luck on the international scene where he became director of football for the Ecuador National Team at the end of 2019. He, along with manager Jordi Cruyff, son of Johan Cruyff, was tasked with Ecuador's Copa America campaign and aimed to get the South American nation into the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. However, due to the covid19 pandemic, the project fell apart and Cordon departed Ecuador before being able to achieve these aims.

Before joining Olympiakos, Cordon most recently took over as Sports Director of La Liga side Real Betis. The team from Seville was on an upward trajectory before Cordon's arrival, but in joining Betis he was able to stamp his mark on the club which further progressed the club to new heights. As well as qualifying for the Europa League in two successive seasons Cordon is also credited for helping build a Real Betis side that won the Copa del Rey in 2022, their first major trophy since they last won the domestic cup competition in 2004/05. 

Notable players who arrived during his time at Betis include Héctor Bellerín, William Jose, Rui Silva, Luiz Felipe and Luiz Henrique. He was also praised for the performances of players already at the club including Borja Iglesias, Nabil Fekir and Marc Bartra. After nearly three years at the club, Cordon departed in February 2023. 

The 59-year-old name started to circulate in the Greek media towards the end of the season of Cordon's potential move to Olympiakos. Even with the links to Premier League side Aston Villa who were reportedly interested in Cordon, Evangelos Marinakis made sure that he got the Spaniard to Piraeus. 

Cordon has consistently shown that he has the ability to not only bring good players to the clubs he works at, but he can also help in the development of players already at the club to maximise their output and make them even more valuable. 

In addition to this, the club can either sell these improved players for a profit or keep them to become an integral part of the team. Something that has been severely lacking at Olympiakos for the last few seasons. In other words player development. 

If early signs are an indicator of anything, Antonio Cordon has the potential to bring Thrylos not only top-quality players but a top manager too who could lead the Piraeus side back to domestic and European success.  

@SteveKountourou

Hellas Football