Arsenal appoint Raul Sanllehi as Barcelona director of football resigns after 15 years at club and Arsene Wenger faces up to power shift

  • Raul Sanllehi stepped away from the Nou Camp club four days early on Monday 
  • It will be part of the rebuilding process under current manager Arsene Wenger 
  • It follows Sven Mislintat being brought in from Borussia Dortmund last week 

Arsenal will announce the arrival of former Barcelona director of football Raul Sanllehi on Tuesday as part of the restructuring of its scouting and recruitment.

Sanllehi was due to leave Barcelona on Friday but he signed off on Monday after 15 years service at the club and will now move in alongside manager Arsene Wenger.

Sven Mislintat was brought in from Borussia Dortmund as the club's new head of recruitment last week and the experienced and respected Sanllehi can now start work with Mislintat in preparation for the January transfer window. 


Arsenal have edged closer to appointing Barcelona director of football Raul Sanllehi (right)

Arsenal have edged closer to appointing Barcelona director of football Raul Sanllehi (right)

He will work alongside the north London club's new head of recruitment Sven Mislintat 

He will work alongside the north London club's new head of recruitment Sven Mislintat 

The 48-year-old has served under three different Barcelona presidents and was instrumental in major signings such as Luis Suarez and Neymar, ensuring the Brazilian moved to the Nou Camp instead of going to Real Madrid in 2011.

Sanllehi is expected to be tasked with bringing the club's top targets to the Emirates.

The move follows Dick Law's resignation from his position as Arsenal's main transfer negotiator in September.

Law struggled in his attempts to secure Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez to new terms. Their contracts - which expire next summer - will be among the first things on Sanllehi's agenda at his new club. 

Sanllehi is credited with playing a key role in the signing of Neymar when he was at Barcelona

Sanllehi is credited with playing a key role in the signing of Neymar when he was at Barcelona

Arsenal's new men 

SVEN MISLINTAT

Influential talent spotter who moved to Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund last week to become their head of recruitment.

Mislintat is credited with spotting the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Ousmane Dembele and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang during his 11 years at Dortmund thanks to an in-depth, stats-based scouting database.

RAUL SANLLEHI

Spent 15 years at Barcelona as director of football and was influential in major signings such as Luis Suarez and Neymar.

He is expected to fulfil a similar role at the Emirates Stadium following Dick Law's resignation from his position as Arsenal's main transfer negotiator in September. 

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It comes hot on the heels of Mislintat's arrival from the Bundesliga giants last week. He was Dortmund's chief talent spotter and has been credited with discovering the likes of Ousmane Dembele and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

He is set to take over from chief scout Steve Rowley at the north London club as his 25-year spell comes to an end.

Mislintat arrived at Dortmund back in 2006 and helped them recover from financial problems to one of the most successful clubs in Europe working alongside manager Jurgen Klopp.

Among the other players recruited were Shinji Kagawa and Robert Lewandowski, with Dortmund coining in millions once they sold them on.

The 45-year-old has acquired the nicknames 'Super Eye' and 'Diamond Eye' among colleagues for his ability to unearth gems and is known as 'pearl diver' by the German media.

Mislintat was one of the first to introduce data-bases scouting methods into the Bundesliga and curated an enormous database with thousands of individual statistics on thousands of players around the world. 

 

 

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