Former Arsenal head of football Raul Sanllehi is reportedly being considered by Premier League club Everton for a potential role. Sanllehi spent nearly three years at the Emirates Stadium following his 14-year spell at Barcelona before leaving during the Covid-19 pandemic.
He served as a key part of the club's attempt to rebuild following Arsene Wenger's departure in 2018. Sanllehi replaced former CEO Ivan Gazidis and spent the majority of his reign in north London implementing a new model of directorship.
A four-person team was formed, made up of head coach Mikel Arteta, technical director Edu Gaspar, head of football operations Huss Fahmy and academy manager Per Mertesacker. However, the model collapsed early and Sanllehi returned to Spain as director general for La Liga side Real Zaragoza.
Now, it has been reported that Sanllehi has 'admirers' on Merseyside, with Everton keen to revamp the running of the club after back-to-back relegation scares. According to the Daily Mail, the Toffees, who remain in talks over a takeover with Farhad Moshiri, are considering making a move for the 56-year-old, though it remains to be seen if he would be tempted in a return to England.
Back in September, Sanllehi made the headlines after seeming to criticise Arsenal's decision to give Arteta control over partial decisions of the football club. "I do not agree when clubs call the first-team coach "the manager", he told The Athletic.
"First-team coach is the first-team coach, that is enough. Nowadays, the workload is overwhelming, and I need him to concentrate on the first team.
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“Anything that distracts you from that is not your responsibility — travel arrangements, the pitch, salary budget, medical department. We will get other people to do that. The first-team coach is short-term oriented — just win tonight’s game.”
"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."
