Betis has appointed Manu Fajardo as the new sports director

Real Betis Balompié has reorganized its sports area after the departure last January of the former manager, Ramón Planes. The board of directors of the Verdiblanco club, as reported this Monday through its website and social networks, has made a commitment to the professionals of the house to strengthen the successful sports model that has given great results in recent years .

In this way, Manu Fajardo is appointed Sports Director of professional football and Miguel Calzado strengthens his position as Director of football training. Both executives will report directly to the CEO of Real Betis, Ramón Alarcón. Both Fajardo and Calzado will have a specific role in the club’s sports commission, which also includes the entity’s president and vice president, Ángel Haro and Joisé Miguel Laópez Catalán, as well as the team’s first coach, Manuel Pellegrini. Also, Álvaro Ladrón de Guevara will occupy the position of Green and White Technical Secretary, in close collaboration with Manu Fajardo.

“The new sports structure of Real Betis will reinforce the Club’s commitment to the improvement and professionalization of all areas that affect the performance of football,” it was reported in the note made public this Monday. Departments such as the first team, the technical secretariat, the use of new technologies and Big Data or the international network of relations with clubs and agencies depend on the Sports Management of professional football. The Training Football Directorate will improve the work already done in the recruitment, methodology and analysis unit, in addition to improving the work of training and residence management, key to the recruitment and development of better footballers. The new facilities at the Rafael Gordillo Sports City represent an exponential improvement in the possibilities of Verdiblanco youth football. Key elements such as physical preparation, medical services, physiotherapy and recovery, performance analysis, nutrition and psychology will also be enhanced for the entire structure of the Club.

Manu Fajardo Mateo (Seville, 1985) has a degree in Law, a master’s degree in Sports Management from LaLiga Business School and a master’s degree in Big Data from UCAM. He began his professional career in the world of football in 2012 as an agent, providing sports advice to clubs and players. In 2018 he became the technical secretary of AD Alcorcón, becoming head of recruiting for Levante UD the following year. In 2022 he became Technical Secretary of Rayo Vallecano, to finish in the summer of 2023 as Technical Secretary of Real Betis Balompié. Throughout his career, he has stood for achieving sports victories, re-evaluating squads and being close to the daily work of professional teams.

Miguel Calzado Sevilla (Seville, 1982) is a UEFA B football coach and has a sports director qualification from the RFEF, in addition to studying Economics. He held various positions in Sevilla’s youth academy and sports management until 2016, when he went on to manage Málaga’s academy, where he joined Real Betis’ youth football team in October 2017. Since March 2019, he became the Club’s youth youth director. During this period, players such as Edgar, Rodri, Paul, Juan Cruz, Raul García, Assane Diao and Vieites joined the first team, with others making their debuts such as Dani Pérez, Pablo Busto and Félix Garreta . During this period, more than 60 homegrown players have also gone international, an absolute record in the history of the entity. On a collective level, all grassroots football teams have been champions of Andalusia at least once. The Youth Division of Honor has been installed in the national elite for three consecutive years, in addition to achieving two promotions with Betis Deportivo Balompié. In the new organization of Real Betis, Miguel Calzado is very focused on recruiting and developing pre-elite players.

Álvaro Ladrón de Guevara (Seville, 1989) graduated in Journalism from the University of Seville and holds the title of Sports Director from the RFEF and Rey Juan Carlos University. He has been linked to the world of football since 2009. He worked as an international scout at Galatasaray for four seasons and later Sports Director of the representation agency Go Pro Sports. In 2018 he became part of the technical secretariat of Real Betis Balompié as a scout and since 2023 he has played the role of head of scouting in the green and white entity. Now he will replace Manu Fajardo as Technical Secretary in Heliópolis.

The Sevillians, and Betis, Miguel Calzado, Manu Fajardo and Álvaro Ladrón de Guevara will be the most responsible for the Real Betis sports organization chart.