Arsenal: Raul Sanllehi the captain of new front office all-star team

Arsenal’s post-Arsene Wenger era is actually shaping up to be damned exciting if they can continue to add to the cast with Raul Sanllehi.

There is no other top club in the world of football that is so predominantly run by one man than Arsenal. I would argue that there is no other club in general, but I can’t speak for every club in the world. Still, Arsene Wenger is the manager, the Sporting Director, the Head of Scouting, the everything. He is the be-all, end-all of everything Arsenal.

On one hand, that is remarkable, especially seeing as how he has kept the club in such good standing. On the other hand, every mortal has limitations, and Wenger clearly has his, as he was never able to get the club over that final hill in his decade of complete control.

I can’t help but think that some of that has to come down to trying to do far too much. Clubs have Sporting Directors, Heads of Scouting, Recruitment and positions galore for a reason. And that reason isn’t just to have more salaried employees.

The other risk of having an overlord manager is that eventually he moves on. How does a club that has been so grossly dependent on one man carry on when that one man departs?

Well, Arsenal are showing you how – by building such a superb cast of missing characters ahead of time to soften the blow that will undoubtedly come to pass when Wenger is pulled out and a power void ensues.

Sven Mislintat has already been appointed as Head of Scouting. This being the guy that was responsible for such finds as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Christian Pulisic.

But the Gunners look to be on the hunt for more, and they are looking even bigger than Mislintat. Raul Sanllehi looks to be the man for the Sporting Director role. Sanllehi has been overseeing Barcelona for the past 15 years, and has on his resume (among many other things) luring Neymar to Barcelona rather than Real Madrid, and luring Luis Suarez too.

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Sanllehi was apparently supposed to resign on Friday, but has done so just yesterday, with reports indicating that he will be announced by Arsenal midweek.

I shouldn’t need to say this, but this is a huge deal. Two clubs that are renowned for their ability to turn up players (although not necessarily keep them, in Dortmund’s case) that go on to be world beaters have been filched from. I am, of course, assuming that Sanllehi is coming to Arsenal.

At just 48 years old, Sanllehi still has plenty of time to shape a club in an even greater capacity than he did Barcelona. And there aren’t many other top-tier clubs actively searching for a Sporting Director in late November.

With two massive figures running the club’s recruitment process, the future is bright. Brighter, even if we consider that they may actually get a transfer window or two to work with Arsene Wenger.

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The Wenger era is, more or less, going to end before we expected it to. I associate the “Wenger era” with his complete control, but Mislintat and (assumedly) Sanllehi bring and end to that.

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