Arsenal have already begun making changes behind the scenes as an important summer transfer window looms. The Gunners have endured a poor campaign under Mikel Arteta and face the prospect of missing out on European football for the first time in 25 years.
Arteta’s side are currently ninth in the Premier League with just three fixtures left to try and secure an unlikely place in the Europa League.
The Gunners bounced back from their embarrassing defeat in the Europa League semi-final against Villarreal with a 3-1 win over West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.
But while goals from Emile Smith Rowe, Nicolas Pepe and Willian secured a vital win, it is clear improvements are needed for next season.
There are many questions about the current squad heading into the summer transfer window, which opens on June 9 for 12 weeks.
According to football.london, Arsenal director Edu is preparing to sell six players this summer in order to supplement the club’s existing transfer budget with an extra £60million.
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Goalkeeper Bernd Leno and right-back Hector Bellerin are both reportedly being made available for transfer, despite playing key roles in Arteta’s side this season.
Meanwhile, loanees Sead Kolasinac, Lucas Torreira, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Matteo Guendouzi have also been earmarked as potential money-makers, with Arsenal aware they need to strengthen their playing squad.
Brighton midfielder Yves Bissouma, Inter Milan full-back Achraf Hakimi and Eduardo Camavinga of Rennes are just some of the names that have all been linked with the Gunners, who look set to have a busy summer.
With so many things going on in the club’s recruitment department at this time, it is surprising that Arsenal have appointed a headhunting company to recruit new scouts in a number of key positions.
According to the Guardian, the Gunners have hired sports and entertainment recruitment company Nolan Partners to find new scouts, just nine months after deciding to gut their recruitment department.
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The club is seeking two scouts in Germany, as well as new personnel to work in the UK, France and Spain.
In August Arsenal raised eyebrows across the industry by deciding to release Francis Cagigao, their head of international recruitment, as well as senior scouts across Europe in sweeping changes.
At the time Edu explained the decision by saying:“I don’t want individual people working in one area or for one country. I want a group working together: less people with more responsibilities.”
They opted to prioritise a more analytics-led process, bringing use of their in-house facility StatDNA to the forefront of their process.
However, ahead of a busy summer, it seems that the club has performed a U-turn in order to try and find a compromise between the two approaches.