Former head of football Raul Sanllehi has opened up on his Arsenal departure admitting his 'last 10 months were horrible'.
Sanllehi joined the Gunners hierarchy from Barcelona back in 2018 before being let go from the club after just two years. Sanllehi’s ideas convinced Ivan Gazidis, then Arsenal’s chief executive, to recommend that the Kroenkes hire him.
It was Sanllehi who identified Unai Emery as the team’s new head coach as he oversaw the transition from Arsene Wenger's 22-year spell with the Gunners. When Gazidis left to join AC Milan in September 2018, he was moved into a new head of football role at the Emirates Stadium and entrusted with handling all football operations at Arsenal.
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In an interview with The Athletic, Sanllehi has opened up on his departure from the Gunners and believes the club have made a mistake involving current boss Mikel Arteta. Sanllehi said: “I loved it at Arsenal. You cannot imagine — the people in the club, the history of the club.
“I really felt I was at the top of the world there. I love the owners, the Kroenkes, but the last 10 months there were horrible. I had to lay off 55 people, without knowing I was the 56th."
Sanllehi believes the club have now 'betrayed' the model he implemented during his time at Arsenal and feels there has been a key mistake made with Mikel Arteta. Sanllehi continued: “I do not agree when clubs call the first-team coach ‘the manager’.
“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.
“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.
“It is funny now, but I remember in December 2019, I had dinner with the four guys: (Arsenal’s then newly-appointed head coach) Mikel Arteta, (technical director) Edu, (head of football operations) Huss Fahmy and (academy manager) Per Mertesacker. On the toast, I said, ‘Now, it is on us. Now it is exactly the model I asked for. If it does not work, we have no excuses’.
"That team for me was a dream team at that time. Then in March, everything just fell apart. It was sad.”
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