Raul Sanllehi did his work behind the scenes at Barcelona, but his unrivalled contacts in the game is why the Catalan giants will miss him so much.

Not a great deal is known about Arsenal’s new head of football relations, Raul Sanllehi. The 48-year-old’s arrival was confirmed by the club after months of speculation.

According to Diario Gol director Albert Masnou, Barcelona will miss his excellent work and the extensive list of contacts he’s built during his time at the club.

“He’s the best in the business at what he does,” Mansou told ESPN. “In reality, he’s worked in the shadows at Barca, almost unknown, but his work has been excellent.”

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

The hope is that Sanllehi will do a better job negotiating transfers than Dick Law did.

The former worked on the huge transfers that saw Neymar and Luis Suarez join Barcelona, while also helping Barcelona sign Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Ivan Rakitic and Nelson Semedo.

It seems he’ll work closely with new head of recruitment Sven Mislintat, who will likely identify the targets while Sanllehi goes and gets the deal done.

Sven Mislintat
Sven Mislintat, formerly of Borussia Dortmund, has become Arsenal’s new Head of Recruitment.

ESPN report that Sanllehi has connections from his time as one of three directors for the European Club Association.

It’s that contact book that will hopefully help Arsenal secure good deals for players, as well as improve their commercial performance.

The Gunners have arguably not had such expertise since David Dein left the club in 2008.

Sanllehi’s new role with the club will start in February.