West Ham United have finally appointed their new director of football in the form of 59-year-old Armando Mario Husillos.
Husillos who was previously the sporting director at La Liga side Malaga has now officially joined the Hammers – the club confirmed on Wednesday.
And the Argentine’s appointment does not come as a huge surprise to many especially after West Ham named Manuel Pellegrini as their new manager.
Husillos has previously worked with Pellegrini during their Malaga days and the pair has been responsible for unearthing some fine talents.
But who is Mario Husillos?
Well, for starters, Mario Husillos himself was a footballer during his playing days and has played for 11 different clubs during his career – Malaga being one of them.
Husillos has also tried his hand at management with three different clubs namely Almagro, Murcia and the Malaga B side.
The 59-year-old was the sports director at Malaga for three years and he along with Pellegrini have been credited for unearthing talents like Isco, Nacho Monreal, Jesus Gamez and Jeremy Toulalan.
Mario Husillos was brought back to Malaga for a second stint at the start of the year from Olympiakos but that tenure did not go down well both with him as well as the club.
The Argentine was brought in the steady the ship as Malaga were battling relegation and in order to keep them afloat the sports director went on to make 8 new signings during the January transfer window.
Unfortunately, though, none of the new signings could shine in the La Liga and Malaga were eventually relegated to the second tier of Spanish football.
The blame of such a catastrophe was put largely on Mario Husillos as a result of which West Ham had some reservations against appointing him.
Husillos is also a great advocate of any club’s academy and he has is known to push forward young academy talents.
