Arsenal: Ivan Gazidis speculation nothing more than that

Ivan Gazidis is at the heart of speculation regarding a possible swoop from AC Milan. Arsenal have categorically denied it. There is indeed nothing here.

When Arsene Wenger resigned last season, change was imminent and inevitable. The man who had led Arsenal football club for over two decades was set to depart with a new structure succeeding him. That brings change.

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The leader of that change was Ivan Gazidis. Chief Executive at Arsenal for nearly a decade himself, Gazidis had spoken in the past of a need for a ‘catalyst for change’. Little did he know that he would soon be it.

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And then, just a matter of months into the process of revolutionising the very fabric of the club, Gazidis is strongly linked with an exit, AC Milan being his biggest admirers with the Italian organisation wanting Gazidis to enact the same kind of culture-impacting change that he had done at the Emirates.

At first, the rumours were nothing more than that, conjecture of the tabloids simply to fill the back pages. But they lingered. They remained in the news cycle, and now, weeks later, Arsenal chairman Sir Chips Keswick has felt it necessary to release this statement:

"“We are aware of the speculation surrounding our chief executive Ivan Gazidis. We know he receives many offers from organisations inside and outside the game as he’s a hugely respected figure. He has never accepted any of these opportunities and has never spoken about them publicly. He has always been fully committed to taking Arsenal forward and is currently working hard in Singapore with our new head coach Unai Emery as we prepare for the new season.”"

The statement doesn’t really say anything of note. Gazidis is wanted by many organisations because of his great work; Gazidis is committed to this new era at the Emirates. That’s about it. But it does help to hammer home a key point: there is nothing more to the speculation of an AC Milan swoop.

It may be the case that Milan want Gazidis to lead their new era. They have suffered a torrid time with capricious, irresponsible and sometimes abusive owners and are looking to start afresh. Gazidis is leading that same outlook in the post-Wenger era in north London, and he is doing so adeptly thus far.

But there is little to no reason as to why he would leave. He has fought for power and influence at the club for many years, often at loggerheads with an omnipotent Wenger. He has wanted to move the club in a new direction, a progressive, advancing one that welcomes the modern game and the elements of change that come with it. He masterminded the building of the brain trust behind the scenes to support the work of a head coach, not a singular figurine leading solitarily.

Why would he leave just as he has all of those things? The point, simply, is that he wouldn’t. Just as the statement says, there is nothing to these Milan rumours.