Arsenal are closing in on appointing Arnaldo Abrantes their new head doctor after the departure of Zafar Iqbal.
In a meeting just days after the Champions League final, Iqbal was told he was sacked and would be leaving the club with immediate effect.
The Gunners have wasted little time in seeking a replacement and are understood to have settled on Abrantes as their top target.
Talks have progressed and there is a growing expectation that Abrantes will be in place for the start of pre-season next month.
There will be plenty for Abrantes to contend with when he does start work at the Sobha Realty Training Centre.
Many in the Arsenal squad will be returning from a gruelling summer at the World Cup off the back of a 63-match club season.
Jurrien Timber has pulled out of the Netherlands' World Cup, while William Saliba is managing a back problem. An Achilles injury means Bukayo Saka is currently unable to train on consecutive days for England.
The World Cup final will be played on July 19, less than a month before Arsenal face Manchester City in the Community Shield.
Who is Arnaldo Abrantes?
Abrantes' sporting career began as a sprinter, following in the footsteps of his father who competed for Portugal at the 1988 Olympics.
He was a national champion in both the 100m and 200m and qualified to represent his country at the Olympics in both Beijing and London.
Alongside his sprinting career, Abrantes attended medical school at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa and in 2011 graduated with a Doctor of Medicine degree.
He specialised in sports medicine and in 2017 joined Portuguese club Estoril as clinical director. Two years later, Abrantes was promoted to lead the medical and performance units.
The first move into English football came in 2020, when Abrantes joined Sabri Lamouchi's backroom staff at Nottingham Forest as head of performance.
Abrantes impressed there and caught the eye of Unai Emery, who brought him to Aston Villa in 2023 to become the club's head of medicine.
The 39-year-old left Villa at the end of the season and he is now in line to be brought to Arsenal and lead the efforts to improve the club's injury record.
There will be a familiar face for Abrantes at the Arsenal training ground. Carmen Marquez left her role as a doctor at Villa in January to join the Gunners.
