Žalgiris appoint Mańkowski as sporting director in recruitment overhaul

FK Žalgiris have appointed Grzegorz Mańkowski as sporting director, with Polish scouts Piotr Rutkowski and Piotr Sidorowicz also joining the Vilnius club from Jagiellonia Białystok.

Mańkowski will set the club’s sporting direction, identify squad-building needs and lead recruitment. He replaces Giedrius Klevinskas, who had held the role since November last year. Žalgiris said a decision on Klevinskas’s future role would be made soon.

Director Mindaugas Kasperūnas said the club had decided on changes after being dissatisfied with its results in domestic competitions this season. Žalgiris will commit more resources to recruitment, he added, and selected the Jagiellonia staff for their experience finding talent and building success with comparatively limited resources.

Jagiellonia won the Polish title for the first time in 2024 and reached the Conference League quarter-finals in 2025. During that period, the club also sold players to teams in Portugal, the United States and Austria. Mańkowski began his career in England, working in the academies and clubs of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Birmingham City, West Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa. He joined Jagiellonia as a scout in 2021, became head of scouting in 2022 and took charge of player recruitment this summer.

Players previously recommended by Mańkowski include Afimico Pululu, the leading scorer in the 2024-25 Conference League, Dominik Marczuk, named the Polish league’s best young player, and Portuguese midfielder Nené. Pululu later moved to Saudi Arabia, while Marczuk now plays in the United States.

Rutkowski, who joined Jagiellonia in 2020, will lead Žalgiris’s scouting department. His responsibilities will include organising the scouts’ work, setting player-assessment standards and combining data analysis with video and live scouting. He will also oversee the use of analytics and artificial intelligence in recruitment.

Sidorowicz, who has been a Jagiellonia scout since 2024, will assess match footage, statistics and players’ physical data. He will also monitor young Lithuanian players and youth tournaments.

“I am delighted to join Žalgiris, a club well known in our region for its history, strong support and ambitions,” Mańkowski said. “I hope we can use our knowledge and experience to find new talent and help the team aim for the highest results next season.”

Žalgiris are due to complete their Toplyga campaign on 8th November away to Gargždai. They have secured qualification for next season’s UEFA competitions, with their final league position – between second and fourth – still to be decided.

Source: fkzalgiris.lt