Raul Sanllehi appointed Arsenal’s new head of football relations
Former Barcelona chief takes senior role at the Emirates to ensure Gunners avoid a repeat of the contract rebellion from stars Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil. Arsenal fear the pair could leave on free transfers next summer
ARSENAL have named Barcelona chief Raul Sanllehi as their new head of football relations.
The Gunners have snapped up the influential Spaniard after he decided to quit Barca following 15 years in the role at the Nou Camp.
His new position at the Emirates has been confirmed, as part of the major overhaul of the managerial structure at the North London club.
Arsenal raided Borussia Dortmund earlier this month to take Sven Mislintat as their new head of recruitment.
And Sanllehi will come in to work alongside Arsene Wenger and Mislintat in a new-look senior structure at the club that was promised last season.
Sanllehi and Mislintat are expected to link up quickly - but he will not begin work with the Premier League club until February.
Their joint arrival comes after Arsenal's chief transfer negotiator Dick Law resigned in Septemeber amid criticism of the club's success in the market in recent years.
Law had found it hard to make any breakthrough in attempts to convince Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil to commit to new contracts with the club.
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Sanllehi, 48, spent 15 years working at Barcelona under three presidents, and was credited with ensuring the club signed Neymar and Luis Suarez.
Now Arsenal want him to make a similar impact at the Emirates, believing they have seen their pulling power diminished in recent years.
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Gunners boss Wenger has always resisted attempts to impose a director of football on him, preferring to be in charge of everything at the club.
But when he signed his new two-year contract last summer it is understood he agreed to let someone else come in to help with the talent spotting and contract talks.
Arsenal chief executive Ivan 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.”
The main decisions the club need to make before the end of January are what their long-term planning is in terms of Sanchez and Ozil.
Both are out of contract at the end of the season and Arsenal face the prospect of losing their two star players without a fee.
If neither wants to commit themselves beyond the summer, the club could decide to sell them in January to at least bring some money in.
Manchester City have been chasing Sanchez for the past year, and could come back in with a bid in January after a transfer deadline day move collapsed in August.
Barcelona and Manchester United have both shown an interest in signing the Germany World Cup winner, with a fee of £20million one the Gunners may consider.
With both creative players possibly on the way out, the Gunners have been looking around for new players to bring in for the long term.
And should Paris Saint-Germain decide they are willing to sell Julian Draxler then Wenger may ask his board to finance a mid-season deal.