Arsenal have announced that head of football Raul Sanllehi has left the club with immediate effect.
“I’m proud and pleased with the contribution I’ve made at Arsenal over the past three years, and look forward to enjoying the club’s future success," Sanllehi said in a statement on the club website.
"Arsenal is a true footballing institution. I am proud to have been part of its history and I thank Stan and Josh Kroenke for this opportunity."
Sanllehi joined Arsenal from Barcelona in 2017 to lead player negotiations and work with then-boss Arsene Wenger in what was widely considered as a director of football role.
But speaking six months before Sanllehi was appointed, Wenger dismissed the notion of working with a director who would help with recruitment.
“I don’t know what director of football means,” Wenger said in a press conference in May 2017.
“Is it somebody who stands in the road and directs play right and left? I don’t understand and I never did understand what it means.
“Sorry, no. I’m not prepared to talk about that. I’m the manager of Arsenal football club and, as long as I’m manager of Arsenal football club, I will decide what happens on the technical front. That’s it.
“When it does not work here, I am blamed, so if [it happened] I am blamed for decisions I have not made [as well],” Wenger added.
"It is tough enough to be blamed for decisions you have made. It is difficult to imagine that somebody signs a player that the manager does not know.
"That never happened to me.
“Some coaches are only interested in managing the team and they are happy with it. I am not like that and I cannot change myself now.
"I can change by trying to get better but my personality? I have 40 years of experience at the top, top level and I think, personally, I have a good knowledge of the game. I am who I am. That is it.”
