River Plate president Stefano Di Carlo publicly backed sporting director Pablo Longoria this week, describing a six-month project that has created scouting and performance departments the club had never had before, even as Longoria’s low public profile has fueled questions and rumors about his future. Di Carlo laid out the defense in an interview with ESPN’s F12, arguing that the Spaniard’s work is foundational and that judging it now would be premature.
The expectation when Longoria arrived at the Monumental in April was that he would quickly reshape River’s football operation. What has happened instead, according to the club’s own president, is a slower build behind the scenes — one Di Carlo says requires time before any evaluation.
Di Carlo’s defense on ESPN’s F12
Speaking on F12, Di Carlo said Longoria “has six months of work and is building the sporting direction,” meaning that beneath him there are now departments River did not previously have: a performance department, a scouting department, and a succession map for every position. He added that the club should not let its current league position rush decisions during the transfer market.
Di Carlo framed the work as a foundational process to professionalize the club’s football areas, comparing it to boarding a train moving at 200 kilometers per hour: the results will not be immediate. He said the evaluation will come later, and that if roles need to be redesigned, the club will do it — but with the same objective: results, tangible things, impact and concrete consequences on the pitch. “To make a self-criticism you need time,” he said.
Six months in, Longoria remains largely unseen
Longoria, a Spaniard who before River worked in player recruitment and analysis for European clubs and served as president of Olympique de Marseille, was presented by River only through a statement, with no press conference to explain his duties. His public appearances have been limited to accompanying the squad on away trips, and he has not spoken to any media outlet. For many at the club, he remains practically unknown inside the Monumental offices.
His intended functions include coordinating the search for players, managing contracts, planning the squad and linking the professional team with the youth divisions. That lack of visibility has fed criticism: the club’s new leadership brought him in for 2026 to take charge of the football side, yet his hand has not yet been felt, and multiple questions plus a rumor of a possible departure have circulated.
The scouting department and the Tobías Andrada signing
Di Carlo pointed to the scouting work as concrete evidence of the new structure. In September he praised the reports that backed the signing of Tobías Andrada, saying the opportunity came from reports of a magnitude and force the club had never had before. He also said a performance department that never existed has been created, covering video analysis and nutrition across other areas of football.
Those remarks noted that Di Carlo used the Andrada signing as the example of what the new scouting operation can produce. The implication from the president is that the departments Longoria is building are already feeding decisions at the highest level of the club.
Juan Cortese questions clarity of role
Not everyone at River sees the same picture. Juan Cortese questioned the clarity of Longoria’s role, saying many who work day to day at the club did not understand it, and that when Longoria appeared at the training ground, players looked at him askance, seeing him as responsible for having brought them there. Cortese also said Longoria had received instructions from Di Carlo to manage player departures — to negotiate them in a better way — but that it did not work out.
Cortese added that Longoria arrived to intervene in a transfer window in which River invested close to 70.7 million dollars, yet he argued Longoria had no real influence in that market. There were also differences between Longoria and the club’s leadership over how to respond to Middle East offers for Lucas Martínez Quarta. Cortese’s summary was blunt: Longoria is an employee of River, with a contract, evaluated at year’s end — and in his view the case has been a failure, with his formal role and what he has done behind closed doors unlikely to ever be known officially.
River has not defined Longoria’s continuity: a December departure is a possibility, but there is no official decision. The club’s leadership will review in December whether to keep the sporting structure for 2027 and move ahead with planning the next transfer market. Domingo Catoira, hired in June on Longoria’s recommendation to work in recruitment, could also be unlinked if Longoria’s exit is confirmed.
What comes next at River Plate
For now, Longoria remains in his post at Núñez, and Di Carlo’s message is that his work is waiting on positive results. The next confirmed checkpoint is December, when the club’s leadership will evaluate whether the sporting structure — and the man building it — stays in place for 2027. Until then, the president’s position is that the process needs time, and that the judgment call comes later, not now.
