Arsenal: Monchi rejection cannot turn into mess

Monchi has rejected the technical director role at Arsenal and returned to Sevilla instead. His not coming cannot be allowed to turn into a mess.

Ivan Gazidis was meant to usher in a new era at Arsenal football club. The post-Arsene Wenger tenure would be led forward by Gazidis and his new band of merry men. But within four months, Gazidis was gone. And the team he left behind would quickly be disbanded two.

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Sven Mislintat, the head of recruitment, swiftly followed, Vinai Venkatesham was promoted to lead up the commercial side of the club, and Raul Sanllehi was shifted into the head of football role. Essentially, he and Unai Emery are now running the ship.

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For an organisation as large as Arsenal, losing two key managerial influences is far from ideal, and the right succession plan must be put in place and then executed, just as was the case with Emery replacing Wenger last summer. This plan seemed to be to introduce a technical director position. This is essentially a director of football to aid Sanllehi and Emery with recruitment, scouting, and contract and transfer negotiating, among other things.

It was presumed that Monchi, the current director of football at Roma, was being groomed to take on this role. The highly touted personnel director worked brilliantly with Emery at Sevilla before his move to Rome and it was hoped that they could recreate that magic at the Emirates. Given his record, his affiliation with Emery, and the Gunners’ need for someone with his skill set, the move made a lot of sense.

However, it has since leaked out that Monchi is considering a return to Sevilla, ostensibly set to reject Arsenal’s advances. Suddenly, Sanllehi is back to square one in his search to find a new partner and a replacement for Gazidis and Mislintat amid the management reshuffle.

Monchi’s reported rejection need not be the disaster that it could become. I am not going to say that Monchi is this brilliant scout that could have transformed the whole club. No one really knows, no less this mere writer. And I can say the same about Mislintat or Sanllehi or whoever is eventually chosen to fill the role.

But what I can say with certainty is that hesitation and delay could drastically derail the Emery transformation. As the summer window approaches and the revolution of the squad continues, it is integral that that club is fighting on a united front. Being splintered and introducing people midway into the process is no good way to manage any organisation.

The Monchi rejection does not have to be a mess. Arsenal still have time to remedy the situation and find another capable director. But the longer it takes, the more of a calamity it becomes, and that is concerning indeed.