Olivier Renard has been named the new Montreal Impact sporting director, the club announced Saturday.
Renard comes to the Impact after serving as sporting consultant while sitting on the executive board at Royal Antwerp FC. The 40-year-old previously was the sporting director of Belgian club KV Mechelen, from 2014 to 2016, occupying the same role with Standard de Liège, from 2016 to 2019.
"We're extremely happy to welcome Olivier among us," Impact president Kevin Gilmore said in a statement. “His profile fits the criteria we were looking for. He will play a crucial role in implementing our identity and our sporting structure to establish ourselves as a leading club in MLS. He also proved during the last few years that he is able to find excellent players early in their career and oversee them in a structure that favors their development, all while building a successful squad.”
Renard will report to Gilmore and will work closely with Walter Sabatini, the global sporting director of the Montreal Impact and Bologna FC 1909. In Montreal, Renard will be supported by Vassili Cremanzidis, head of analysis and assistant director of player personnel, Philippe Eullaffroy, academy director, and Patrick Leduc, administrative director of soccer operations.
Under Renard’s leadership, Standard de Liège lifted the Belgium Cup and reached the Europa League group stage. In 2018, the team won the Belgium Cup again, finished second in the Jupiler Pro League and made it to the qualifying stage of the UEFA Champions League.
In 2019, the Rouches finished third in the league and reached the Europa League group stage. Despite his brief stint with Antwerp, Renard had an immediate impact on the club which currently sits third in the regular season table.
During his time in Sclessin, he was behind the signings, development as well as transfers of Razvan Marin, Moussa Djenepo, Guillermo Ochoa and other players, making over 50 million euros in profits for the club. In Malines, he ecruited Sofiane Hanni, Ivan Obradovic, Jordi Van Leerberg and Milos Kosanovic before transferring them for over 13 million euros in profit.
