Raul Sanllehi joins Arsenal: Barcelona chief appointed head of football relations

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Jack Rosser @JackRosser_28 November 2017

Arsenal have confirmed the appointment of Raul Sanllehi as head of football relations.

Sanllehi joins the Gunners from Barcelona where he spent 14 years, most recently as director of football, and played a key role in the acquisition of Neymar in 2013.

The ex-Barca chief will begin work at Emirates Stadium in February where he will, according to the club’s announcement, work alongside Arsene Wenger, Ivan Gazidis and contract negotiator Huss Fahmy and lead negotiations with future signings.

Sanllehi’s appointment follows that of Sven Mislintat who joined from Borussia Dortmund as the club look to restructure things behind the scenes.

Chief executive Gazidis said: “In the past three years we have supplemented our team with more top-class expertise across every aspect of our football operations.

"Raul’s appointment is another important step in developing the infrastructure we need at the club to take everything we do to the next level.

“Raul has extensive contacts across the football world and has been directly involved in some of the biggest transfers in Europe in recent years. We look forward to him bringing that expertise to Arsenal.”