Saint-Étienne first spell Between 2004 and 2005, Comolli was technical director of
Saint-Étienne. During his time there, he oversaw a number of important first team signings and developed partnerships with junior and amateur clubs, locally, nationally, and internationally. The club went through a successful period, finishing sixth in
Ligue 1 and reaching the semi-finals of the
Coupe de France in the
2004–05 season. Comolli left the club due to a fallout with the other directors.
Tottenham Hotspur On 7 September 2005, Comolli became
director of football at
Tottenham Hotspur, with overall responsibility for the medical, academy, scouting, and club secretarial departments, replacing the outgoing
Frank Arnesen. During his time there, Comolli had several disagreements with first-team head coach
Martin Jol. After his departure from Spurs, Jol complained several players had been signed by Comolli without his agreement and that they had left the squad "unbalanced". Comolli spent three years in the job, immediately qualifying for
UEFA competitions, with a best place of fifth in the
Premier League in the
2005–06 and
2006–07 seasons, plus the
Football League Cup in the
2007–08 season, the club's first trophy since 1991 and the last one until the
2024–25 UEFA Europa League. With Tottenham performing poorly at the start of the
2008–09 season, and some of Comolli's signings coming in for criticism, he was dismissed in October 2008, shortly after the dismissals of manager
Juande Ramos, assistant
Gus Poyet, and first team coach Marcos Álvarez, as the director of football position was abolished at the insistence of incoming manager
Harry Redknapp. During his time at Tottenham, Comolli was responsible for Tottenham's policy of signing young talents. Comolli was also responsible for the signings of former Tottenham first-team squad members
Benoît Assou-Ekotto,
Gareth Bale (multiple
Ballon d'Or nominations),
Darren Bent,
David Bentley,
Saint-Étienne second spell On 9 November 2008, it was announced that Comolli would return to
Saint-Étienne as sporting director. His appointment led to the departure of coach
Laurent Roussey a day later, after the club suffered five straight league losses. Comolli's second spell at Saint-Étienne was less successful. In the 2008–09 season, the club reached the round of 16 in the
2008–09 UEFA Cup but only finished seventeenth in
Ligue 1, narrowly avoiding relegation, a feat repeated in the 2009–10 season; however, before his departure at the start of the 2010–11 season, the club was fourth in Ligue 1.
Liverpool On 3 November 2010, Comolli's appointment as director of football strategy at
Liverpool was announced, with part of his remit being to oversee the recruitment of new players to the club. When he arrived at Liverpool, the club had finished seventh in the latest
Premier League, meaning it missed out on a place in the
UEFA Champions League for the first time since 2003, and the club was debt-ridden, having been just bought out in October 2010 by
New England Sports Ventures for £300 million.
Roy Hodgson, the then
manager, had complained that the team inherited by his predecessor
Rafael Benítez lacked quality. Comolli made an instant impact at Liverpool as he was responsible for the signings of two players,
Andy Carroll and
Luis Suárez, in January 2011's
transfer deadline day, with Carroll's signing breaking the record for most expensive British player ever. On 22 March 2011, Comolli was appointed as the director of football at Liverpool. After finishing sixth and thus out of
UEFA competitions in the
2010–11 season, the summer transfer window for the
2011–12 season saw Comolli signing
Charlie Adam,
Craig Bellamy,
Sebastián Coates,
Doni,
Stewart Downing,
José Enrique,
Jordan Henderson,
Jordan Ibe, and
Danny Ward. On 12 April 2012, Comolli left Liverpool by mutual consent. The club had won the
Football League Cup in February 2012 but were only eighth in the Premier League, despite the many millions spent. After leaving Liverpool, Comolli spoke out defending the club's record while expressing some regrets about not being open enough with the media and fans about his successes and strategy. The study of statistics in player selection was introduced under Comolli, and a collection of data and individual characteristics was used to determine the most suitable players based on the needs of the coach and staff. Comolli made an instant impact at Fenerbahçe as he was responsible for several notable signings, including those of
André Ayew,
Victor Moses, and
Islam Slimani for the
2018–19 season; however, Fenerbahçe were second bottom halfway through the season and only finished sixth, which was their lowest position in three decades. Comolli signed with
Luiz Gustavo,
Max Kruse, and
Vedat Muriqi for the
2019–20 season, where the club further fell back to seventh despite reaching the semi-finals of the
Turkish Cup, and
Papiss Cissé,
İrfan Can Kahveci,
Mesut Özil,
José Sosa,
Enner Valencia, and
İsmail Yüksek for the
2020–21 season, where Fenerbahçe rebounded to third place. Comolli also played a leading role in the transfers of
Giuliano de Paula to
Al Nassr (€10,5 million),
Josef de Souza to
Al-Ahli (€12 million),
Eljif Elmas to
Napoli (€16 million plus bonuses), and
Vedat Muriqi to
Lazio (€17 million plus bonuses). On 16 January 2020, Comolli left Fenerbahçe by mutual consent. == Executive ==