Ivan Gazidis believes Raul Sanllehi’s appointment is an important step in building a strong infrastructure at the club.

Arsenal confirmed the appointment of the 48-year-old as the new Head of Football Relations during the week.

While his role isn’t called a Director of Football, he will perform many similar responsibilities, working together with Arsene Wenger and new Head of Recruitment Sven Mislintat.

Gazidis is delighted about Sanllehi’s arrival and feels his experience will help take Arsenal to a new level.

Arsene Wenger and Ivan Gazidis of Arsenal
Chief executive of Arsenal football club Ivan Gazidis (right) saying ‘blah blah blah’

“In the past three years we have supplemented our team with more top-class expertise across every aspect of our football operations,” he said, reports Football.London.

“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’s previous role was with Barcelona, where he was credited with helping them grow commercially and assisting with the signings of Neymar and Luis Suarez.

raul san
Raul Sanllehi has joined Arsenal as Head of Football Relations.

He’ll be taking up Dick Law’s old role of transfer negotiator.

As he won’t be joining until February, Arsenal will be unable to make use of Sanllehi’s expertise in the January transfer window.

However, between him and Mislintat, there’s plenty to be excited about in the summer.

Their arrivals have been regarded as a significant step towards creating a good infrastructure at the club that isn’t so dependent on Wenger.

Wenger is expected to work closely with both of them to identify transfer targets and strengthen his squad.