Javier Ribalta was born on 14 September 1980 and began his professional career in 2008 at Torino, where he worked as a scout. A year later, in the summer of 2009, he moved to a similar position at AC Milan. Two years later he took over as Chief Scout at Italian side Novara Calcio.

In 2012 Javier joined Juventus and spent five years at the Old Lady of Italian football. While there he took the lead in the transfers of Dani Alves, Kingsley Coman, Fernando Llorente, Sami Khedira, Paul Pogba, Alvaro Morata, Alex Sandro and Paulo Dybala among others.  Prior to joining Zenit, Javier worked as Chief Scout at Manchester United.

Javier Ribalta said: "The Sporting Director has a lot of responsibilities, such as searching for new players, overseeing the work of the academy and getting the reserves in order. We will keep looking for players who can strengthen Zenit, but I want to give special attention to the club's academy. I am very happy that I have become part of such a club. I have seen the victorious photos that adorn the Zenit offices and I want the club to be able to feel these emotions once again."