Arsenal: Ivan Gazdis could be biggest defeat of all

Ivan Gazidis is reportedly ‘torn’ by a big-money offer from AC Milan. If he were to leave Arsenal, it could be the biggest defeat of all.

Arsenal have suffered a great many losses — perhaps it’s a little harsh to call them ‘losses’. Maybe alterations would be a better term — in the past year or two. From the changing of the playing personnel, away from stalwarts like Per Mertesacker, Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla into a new era led by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette and Lucas Torreira, to the succession of Arsene Wenger, this is a very different club from what it was just a couple of years ago.

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Some of this change has been orchestrated, purposeful, driven by an individual or team; some of it has been forced — Alexis Sanchez’s departure to Manchester United is a prime example. But at the heart of it all has been a central figure of continuity, ensuring that all that is modified are the detrimental elements and that what was progressive and helpful remains.

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That figure is Ivan Gazidis. The Chief Executive of the club is one of the most important figures at any club. They are one of a few people who have an influence on both what happens on the pitch and off the pitch, they are often in charge of appointing key members of the team, from sporting directors through to the head coach or manager, and they are a key member of the board and mouthpiece of the owner.

In this state of unrivalled and deep-rooted reform, Gazidis has administered and created much of the new operating systems at the club. It was him who wanted Sven Mislintat and Raul Sanllehi. It was him who conducted the hiring of Unai Emery. It was him who oversaw the numerous contract negotiations and transfer deals that took place in the summer. Gazidis is the captain of this ship.

Whether he is a good one or not remains to be seen. I happen to think that he is far better than many of the clueless, distant and disconnected chief executives that are running around in this sport unchallenged and unaccountable for their decisions and the ramifications. Time will ultimately tell.

But even if you think he is a bad captain, it is still better to have a bad captain who can sail a ship that a ship without a captain altogether. Gazidis leaving at this very point, as he is reportedly considering, just as all the changes that he has masterminded are coming together and beginning to work alongside one another, hopefully in harmony, would be critical.

Like Wenger before him, Gazidis is now the cornerstone figure of the football club. Everything is built on him. Take him out and it could be an extremely turbulent and unpredictable replacement period, such is his influence, his power, his importance.

Of all the losses, or changes, that have happened in recent months and years, Gazidis’ could be the biggest of all. Only Wenger can claim to have held more authority at the club than Gazidis. Replacing that does not come easy.