Raul Sanllehi has done it again! He has convinced AS Roma into paying all of Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s wages for the 2019/20 season and also a guaranteed fee of €3m should they choose to buy him out.
It has been an unbelievable summer for the Gunners fans who had grown accustomed to a scarce amount of signings and being stuck with veteran players for years.
With the help of Raul Sanllehi and his team, Arsenal have managed to significantly improve their lineup on both ends of the pitch. David Luiz has already become a regular and Kieran Tierney is expected to follow once his injury recovers. Record signing, Nicolas Pepe is also turning out to be a nuisance to opposition defenders, formulating a strong partnership with Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang up front.
At a glance, we might only see the players signed by Arsenal but it will also help you to know that Sanllehi has kept the club’s net spend relatively low. He extorted £40m out of Everton for Alex Iwobi and has also moved out ageing players like Nacho Monreal and Mkhitaryan. Seeing Shkodran Mustafi leave would have been sublime on all fronts but the fans are willing to wait till the next window.
Sergi Solé, the editor-in-chief of the Catalan newspaper, Mundo Deportivo gave us an insight on why Sanllehi chose to join Arsenal. He said, “He’s a discreet person, who does not like interviews, pictures, who always stands out from the cameras when a new recruit is presented.
Solé believes that Raul “wanted to take on another challenge and assume number one status.” He got his start with Barcelona in the marketing department before being promoted to the post of director of football. He was put in charge of player negotiations both in the transfer window and of their contracts.
“He is a very smart guy, very smart, judge a former employee of Barça,” Solé added. “He forged with football personalities like Sandro Rosell (whom he worked with at Nike, where he worked for several years) and saw this as an opportunity to evolve in a world that lacks good managers and guys who can negotiate well.
“He has a lot of knowledge about the finances, the economy, the accounting, the tax laws of each country … He would be perfectly able to tell you the tax rate in Germany, Italy, convert to gross and net.”
Another source revealed that it was Raul’s idea to issue a blunt statement regarding Laurent Koscielny when he expressed a desire to leave. The public immediately came to know how difficult the Frenchman was being by not travelling with the squad for pre-season.
“He’s a tough guy in negotiations and he’s the one who decides a lot of things at Arsenal. And he’s a very business-oriented person,” says an unnamed agent. “He came to Arsenal wanting to be the number one and it seems that in just over a year he’s managed that goal. Where he takes us now certainly looks like it will be an interesting ride.”
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