Arsenal's head of football Raul Sanllehi leaves club
Aug 15, 2020
London [UK], Aug 15 : Arsenal on Saturday announced that club's head of football Raul Sanllehi is leaving the side and Vinai Venkatesham, the current managing director, will lead them forward.
In a statement on behalf of the owners, Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, Stan and Josh Kroenke said: "Raul has made a big contribution during his time with us and will always be part of the Arsenal family. We thank him for all his hard work and expertise and wish him every future success."
"We have no doubt that Vinai is the right person to take the club forward. He has shown outstanding leadership during the current crisis and is held in high regard internally and externally. We know everyone will rally round him so we can move forward successfully," it added.
Vinai, who has been at Arsenal since 2010, said: "There is much work to do to return Arsenal to the top of the game where we belong, which is what our fans rightly demand. While this will not happen overnight, I believe we have many of the critical ingredients to do so. There are many positives to build on across the club."
Sanllehi joined the Gunners as head of football operations in November 2017 from Barcelona and was promoted to head of football two years later.
"I am proud to have been part of its history and I thank Stan and Josh Kroenke for this opportunity. Working with Vinai, we have built a top team for the future. Mikel has made an extremely positive impact since his arrival and has formed a strong team with our technical director, Edu," Sanllehi said.
"The academy is in very safe hands with Per, and Huss Fahmy is a talented and highly-capable leader of our football operations. Personally, I now look forward to taking some time off and spending time with family and friends before setting to work on a new challenge and cheering Arsenal on to great things," he added.
