It is a summer of change at the Emirates
Arsenal’s overhaul of their footballing operations shows little sign of slowing down after the club announced the departure of their head of football Raul Sanllehi.
The club’s managing director, Vinai Venkatesham, will lead the club going forward. The move to remove Sanllehi from his position is part of a wider restructuring of the club’s football operating, after the departures of head of international scouting Francis Cagigao, head of UK scouting Peter Clark and scout Brian McDermott earlier this month.
It has been reported that the club is moving away from a scouting recruitment model and opting for an agent-led approach. This appears to have been the reasoning behind the club’s acquisition of Chelsea’s Willian, who is represented by agent Kia Joorabchian.
In an interview with talkSPORT on Friday, Joorabchian criticised Arsenal’s former head of recruitment Sven Mislintat, who he accused of making “cock-ups” in the transfer market.
“People forget about the previous guy, Sven,” he said. “He made a bunch of, I don’t like to use the word, but, cock-ups with players he brought in at very, very large numbers.”
In a statement from the club’s owners on the departure of Sanllehi, they said: “Raul has made a big contribution during his time with us and will always be part of the Arsenal family. We thank him for all his hard work and expertise and wish him every future success.
“We have no doubt that Vinai is the right person to take the club forward. He has shown outstanding leadership during the current crisis and is held in high regard internally and externally. We know everyone will rally round him so we can move forward successfully.”
