Gagliardi joins Żabbar as Technical Director ahead of Šolak takeover

Sport Republic, the investment firm backed by Šolak, holds controlling stakes in Championship club Southampton, Turkish club Göztepe and French club Valenciennes. Gagliardi was Sport Republic’s Head of Business Development from 2022 to 2025, as well as Göztepe’s Head of Recruitment and a board member, and remains a Senior Consultant at Göztepe alongside his new role.

According to the club, Šolak has already made resources and expertise available to Żabbar through Sport Republic and its clubs, including Southampton and Göztepe, while the takeover goes through.

Posting on LinkedIn, Gagliardi said: “I’ve been working behind the scenes over the past few weeks, and we’re now laying the foundations for the next chapter, with the aim of making Żabbar a competitive force in Malta and, hopefully, opening the door to opportunities at continental level in the future.”

Żabbar avoided relegation from the Malta Premier League last season by beating Tarxien Rainbows 2-0 after extra time in a play-off in May. The club is converting from a Voluntary Organisation, run by its members, into a Sports Limited Liability Company.

Šolak will become majority shareholder when that process is complete. Gagliardi will lead the club’s recruitment, player development and football performance strategy. Head Coach Adolfo Sormani and the first-team staff will operate within the football structure under him, alongside Head of Academy Daniel Schembri, Lead Scout Tonio D’Amato, Lead Sports Science Luke Leaver and Team Manager Jonathan Vella.

Fabio Muscat has been appointed Chief Executive at the same time.

From scout to Technical Director

Gagliardi began his career as a scout at Chievo Verona in 2001, later working as an Academy Scout at Fulham and as an Analyst covering Serie B for Football Radar. He joined Leyton Orient as a Scout in 2014, then worked as a Goalkeeping Coach there and at Welling United before becoming Orient’s Head of Recruitment in 2016.

After a spell as a Recruitment Consultant at Bolton Wanderers, he spent four years at Portsmouth, first as Head of European Scouting and then as Head of Football Operations, before joining Sport Republic in 2022.

He was Director of Football at Notts County from May to October 2025.

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