Arsenal: Willian signing catastrophic for what it represents

Arsenal are reportedly interested in signing Chelsea winger Willian on a free transfer in the summer. The move would be catastrophic for what it represents: agents are running the club’s recruitment.

The role of the super-agent is a concerning one. They tend to not care about the clubs and players they do business with, only have eyes for the money involved is these inordinately wealthy deals, and have become a scourge on the modern-day running of football, one that is losing touch with its roots as a homegrown game for the normal person.

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Historically, Arsenal have always steered clear of doing business with these wide-ranging agents. Arsene Wenger was suspicious of their motives, as he was right to be, and held a policy that he would rarely even enter into discussions regarding their clients.

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But since Wenger’s departure, along with the likes of Sven Mislintat, who was the Head of Recruitment and used an analytical approach that leaned on his excellent eye for talent as the basis for making decisions in the transfer window, the club has shifted in its receptiveness of the super agents. In fact, they have done an entire 180° turn.

Head of Football, Raul Sanllehi, has leaned on his contacts in the business to get deals done, while new Technical Director, Edu Gaspar, has also looked to use relationships to extend his scouting network and find targets for the club to chase.

No one has this been more linked with than Kia Joorabchian, who is a close associate of Edu’s having worked with the Brazilian at Corinthians. Arsenal have already signed two of Joorabchain’s clients, Cedric Soares and David Luiz, neither of which seem like the smartest moves at this stage, and they have been linked with several more, including Layvin Kurzawa.

Joorabchian has been present at many Arsenal games this season, including in the director’s box for last weekend’s win over West Ham. He is an impassioned fan of the team and clearly has a close relationship with the club, which he is now using to his and his client’s advantage. And now there is another, somewhat underwhelming name to throw into the mix: Willian.

Willian has been linked with a move to Emirates at the end of the season when his contract expires. He will be 32 before next season begins, his wage will not be cheap, and inflating wages is something that the club is currently trying to restrict, and he has never totalled more than 15 goals and assists combined in a single season, which is not particularly impressive for an attacking player in a very capable team like Chelsea that has won the title twice during his tenure there.

Signing Willian is not a terrible move in and of itself. He will be free, after all, and depth is never a bad move, per se. But what it represents is catastrophic: the Arsenal recruitment policy is now run by relationships, shady deals in shadowy rooms under tables, and super-agents who have no care or compassion for the club.

This is not the progressive, analytical, intelligent process that is required in modern football, one that Liverpool have mastered, for instance. It embraces all that is wrong with elite-level football and it would be catastrophic for the team.