Ex-Arsenal chief Raul Sanllehi fears Mikel Arteta’s all-controlling role as manager is a ‘mistake’
Former Arsenal director Raul Sanllehi fears that the Gunners have made a ‘mistake’ by reverting back to how operations were run under Arsene Wenger.
The Spaniard, who first arrived in north London in 2018 following a 14-year spell at Barcelona, was named as the club’s new head of football after former CEO Ivan Gazidis departed.
During his time at the Emirates, Sanllehi implemented a new model of directorship in a bid to recover from Unai Emery’s ill-fated spell as manager.
Ex-Arsenal chief Raul Sanllehi fears the Gunners have made a ‘mistake’ in how the club is run
He believes Arsenal have relapsed into how operations were run during Arsene Wenger’s reign
Keen to split the running of Arsenal into distinct roles, he pioneered a four-person ‘dream team’, including head coach Mikel Arteta, technical director Edu, head of football operations Huss Fahmy and academy manager Per Mertesacker.
But Sanllehi, by his own admission, revealed to The Athletic that the plan fell apart just a few months later, and Arsenal have since moved away from that model following his exit during the Covid-19 pandemic, handing Arteta the bulk of control.
He explained: ‘Within the model, there are four points: head coach, sporting director, football operations and academy, and they need to be very well coordinated.’
The Spaniard is concerned that Mikel Arteta’s all-controlling role at the club could be harmful
‘Arsenal had decided to move on from Arsene Wenger — one boss who did everything.
‘We had a good coach in Unai, but it was crucial for Arsenal to make the Champions League and losing the Europa League final to Chelsea made us stay there, which made the second year hell for Unai.
‘It had been the one-boss model. All respect for Arsene — what he did for Arsenal is unique and probably at that moment in time the best way to do it — but you had to develop, and that is what happened.’
Branding the decision a ‘mistake’, Sanllehi fears that Arsenal have relapsed into bad habits under Arteta, who seems to have a grasp on all business at the club.
Sanllehi (L) introduced a four-headed management model including technical director Edu (R)
‘I do not agree when clubs call the first-team coach “the manager”,’ he added.
‘First-team coach is first-team coach, that is enough. Nowadays, the workload is overwhelming, and I need him to concentrate on the first team.
‘They have betrayed the model a little bit now. By going back to the manager at the top, that is a mistake, but that is their mistake.
‘I would have not allowed that to happen. But that’s fine, it is working so far for them.’