Arsene Wenger made it clear that new Head of Recruitment Sven Mislintat will be working with him, not chief executive Ivan Gazidis.

There are changes afoot at Arsenal.

The past week has seen former Borussia Dortmund scout Sven Mislintat become the club’s new Head of Recruitment, while Raul Sanllehi has also been confirmed as the new Head of Football Relations.

The appointments mark a re-hauling of Arsenal’s transfer department, with Ivan Gazidis receiving the credit for convincing Mislintat and Sanllehi to join.

However, the Arsenal manager was adamant that Gazidis has nothing to do with transfers, and insisted Mislintat would be working with him.

“With me. Ivan has nothing to do with buying players,” Wenger told the Daily Mail. “Today we have a structure in England, we know everybody. We have taken somebody who has international experience and that is why we made that decision.”

Wenger went on to explain why Arsenal appointed Sanllehi, adding: “Dick Law has retired and has gone back to the States. He is still with us for a while, but we look for somebody as well who has experience in negotiations.

“Dick is still working with us on cases where we need to do. We have Huss (Fahmy), who is top drawer, but has just joined us one year ago, but is doing an excellent job, I rate him highly. There is still a need.”

There has been some tension between Wenger and Gazidis over the direction of the club. It dates back to last season, when Gazidis said his now infamous “catalyst for change” line and was said to be pushing for a Director of Football to come in.

Wenger was publicly against the idea, and seemingly got his way when he signed a new contract and no major changes were promised. However, new members of staff have gradually come in.

Huss Fahmy arrived in the summer. Now we have Mislintat and Sanllehi. It means that either Wenger has accepted the need for fresh talent behind the scenes, or Gazidis is slowly getting his way.