FORMER Portsmouth head of football operations, Roberto Gagliardi, left his post to take up a leading role with Sport Republic.

Gagliardi spent the last four years in his role at Fratton Park, but is now head of business development with the investment firm who own Saints.

His new role is solely with the London-based firm, and not necessarily connected to the St Mary’s outfit. 

Gagliardi is a former Leyton Orient and Bolton scout, as well as serving the Hampshire League One club as head of European scouting.

Gagliardi arrived at Pompey in March 2018 under Kenny Jackett to bolster recruitment – and is often credited with finding star player Ronan Curtis, then with Irish club Derry.

When Jackett was sacked in March 2021, he was then handed the opportunity to prove his worth as interim head of football operations, before being appointed permanently.

Gagliardi describes Sport Republic’s vision as “to apply propriety intelligence and data analytics to help sports businesses and sports technology companies reach their full potential” on LinkedIn.

Sport Republic, co-founded by lead investor Dragan Solak, Henrik Kraft and Rasmus Ankersen, acquired the majority shareholding of Saints in January 2022.

The trio have been spotted regularly at St Mary’s, attending their new acquisition's Premier League matches.