Arsenal are set to promote club scout Francis Cagigao to their Head of Recruitment role, as part of their ongoing overhaul of the backroom staff.

Football.London report that Arsenal are set to appoint Cagigao as their new permanent head of recruitment, but may not announce the appointment formally until after they have a sporting director in place.

As it stands, former Gunner Edu is the strong favourite for that role, and Arsenal have made him an official offer to join. The Brazilian football federation insist they haven’t sanctioned the ex-midfielder’s departure, and nothing is likely to happen until after Copa America.

That means it’ll likely be a while until we know for sure that Cagigao is taking the position. Regardless, in the meantime, he’s going to have to step up and play a major role in Arsenal’s summer recruitment, in the absence of a sporting director and former head of recruitment Sven Mislintat.

What has Francis Cagigao done at Arsenal?

Cagigao spent four years with Arsenal as a player during the 1980s, winning the FA Youth Cup, before a move to Barcelona B. His playing career never really amounted to much, but as a scout he has been credited with bringing Santi Cazorla, Alexis Sanchez, Hector Bellerin and, perhaps most importantly, Cesc Fabregas to the club.

Currently employed as the club’s Head of International Recruitment, Cagigao was reportedly targeted by a number of top clubs in Spain, Germany, and South America last summer, with a director of football role being mentioned in Spain.

Cagigao was born in London, the son of Galician parents and is reportedly under contract with Arsenal until 2020. He joined the club as a scout before becoming a key member of Arsene Wenger’s support team, credited with bringing a number of other youngsters to the club.