Arsenal have confirmed the appointment director of football of Raul Sanllehi.
Sanllehi left his job as Barcelona’s director of football on Monday and arrives at the Emirates as part of a new backroom reshuffle.
Spaniard Sanllehi, 48, was not a traditional director of football at Barca and will do a similar role at Arsenal as he will be relied upon for his extensive contacts book to negotiate transfers and contracts.
Arsenal last week confirmed the appointment of Borussia Dortmund’s former scout Sven Mislintat as head of recruitment.
The new structure put simply will ideally see Arsene Wenger identify the player he wants, Mislintat will scout and find the targets and then Sanllehi will negotiate the transfer.
Sanllehi will also accompany Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis on UEFA committees and be influential at boardroom level.
Gazidis said: “In the past three years we have supplemented our team with more top-class expertise across every aspect of our football operations.
"Raul’s appointment is another important step in developing the infrastructure we need at the club to take everything we do to the next level.
"Raul has extensive contacts across the football world and has been directly involved in some of the biggest transfers in Europe in recent years. We look forward to him bringing that expertise to Arsenal.”
They also brought in fitness guru Darren Burgess and ex-Team Sky contracts and legal expert Huss Fahmy in the summer.
Long serving Dick Law and chief scout Steve Rowley will remain at the club for the time being.