Arsenal announce arrival of former Barcelona transfer guru Raul Sanllehi

Arsenal have confirmed the arrival of former Barcelona director of football Raul Sanllehi, who will assume the role of head of football relations at the Emirates.

Sanllehi, who had been at Barca for over a decade and was involved in the deals that brought Neymar and Luis Suarez to Camp Nou, had been sought by the likes of Manchester City.

But it is Arsenal who have won the race to bring the Spaniard to the Premier League, where he will primarily take on the role of negotiating transfers previously performed by the recently departed Dick Law.

Sanllehi’s arrival continues a massive backroom reshuffle at Arsenal, and follows hot on the heels of Borussia Dortmund super scout Sven Mislintat – nicknamed ‘Diamond Eye’ – joining the club.

Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis said: ‘In the past three years we have supplemented our team with more top-class expertise across every aspect of our football operations.

‘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 will not officially start his role until February, and he will work predominantly alongside manager Arsene Wenger, CEO Gazidis and contract negotiator Huss Fahmy to lead future player negotiations.

He will also represent and support the club with international and domestic governing bodies.