Sports

Arsenal trying to complete backroom shake-up after eight exits


Arsenal are trying to complete the shake-up of their youth set-up following the departure of club legend Steve Morrow when eight staff were shown the exit door.

Lee Herron, current head of academy football operations, will play an increased role as part of the shake-up.

Arsenal also want Phil Antwi, who has impressed with his work at Wolves , while they are hoping to lure youth scout Sam Fagbemi back to the club from Manchester City .

All of this comes against the backdrop of likely change at the very top as well, with Unai Emery now under huge pressure following Thursday’s humiliating Europa League defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt at the Emirates.

The 2-1 defeat didn’t do too much damage to Arsenal’s hopes of qualifying for the last 32, with the Gunners still top of the group heading into the final game against Standard Liege on December 12.

Steve Morrow has been the highest-profile casulaty of an academy clear-out at Arsenal

But it does appear to have brought the likely exit of Emery closer.

Morrow, the former ­Arsenal midfielder who became a highly ­respected head of youth ­recruitment, was the highest-profile ­casualty of a clear-out rubber-stamped by techincal director Edu and academy manager Per Mertesacker this month as the Gunners look to revamp the academy ­scouting set-up.

Arsenal have been eyeing Manchester United youth scouts Dave Harrison and Lyndon Tomlinson, along with Man City’s Joe Shields, to spearhead the youth recruitment department, according to a report from the Mail earlier this month.

Joe WIllock has been one of the academy’s success stories

Read More

Mirror Football’s Top Stories

Both Harrison and Tomlinson were on City’s books before switching across Manchester in 2017, and are regarded as two of the best in their field.

Arsenal have had great success in recent seasons with a number of youth prospects stepping up to join the first team.

Joe Willock, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Bukayo Saka have all come through the academy ranks, but the Gunners want to improve their recruitment processes lower down the chain.





READ SOURCE

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.