Arsenal confirm appointment of Raul Sanllehi as head of football relations

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 28 November 2017

Raul Sanllehi, who has spent 14 years working as director of football at Barcelona, is to join Arsenal as their new head of football relations in February.

Arsenal have named former Barcelona director of football Raul Sanllehi as their new head of football relations.

The Gunners have restructured behind the scenes this season, having also brought in ex-Borussia Dortmund talent spotter Sven Mislintat as head of recruitment last week.

Sanllehi arrives with plenty of experience under his belt following a 14-year spell at Camp Nou, where he was tasked with a number of behind-the-scenes roles.

Upon confirming the appointment on Tuesday afternoon, Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis told the club's official website: "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."

Sanllehi will officially begin his new position at Arsenal in February and is expected to work alongside Gazidis, manager Arsene Wenger and contract negotiator Huss Fahmy.