Ex-Villarreal men Cordón and Pellegrini, reunited at Real Betis

Real Betis have announced the signing of Antonio Cordón as their new sporting director. Cordón, of course, is well known to Villarreal fans, as he spent from 2000-2016 at the club in a number of capacities, most notably as director of football. He’s the guy that essentially created the pipeline between South America and Villarreal.

He left Villarreal to take the same position at Monaco, and had great success in his only year there. Monaco won the league, got to the Champions League semifinals, and played in the French League Cup final. But the owners wanted to break up the team, pocket their profits and go home, so Cordón left.

He worked as CEO for the group that owns Granada, Parma and other clubs, so he should get some of the credit for Granada’s recent success, too.

He had joined the Ecuadorian FA in December but rescinded that contract this month, so him joining Pellegrini should come as no surprise.

Put simply, he’s had great success wherever he’s gone; Betis are a club hardly known outside Spain, but inside Spain they are one of the clubs outside Madrid and Barcelona with the biggest stadium, biggest and most passionate fanbase. Their budget is tight for now given their lack of European football and the low league positions affecting TV moneys but if Cordon and Pellegrini can get it together, they have some advantages for sure.