Arsenal recruit highly regarded scouts
In their bid to outsmart the market, Arsenal have put in place several scouts across Europe.
The club will hope to unearth hidden gems spread across Europe through the help of the recently appointed scouts. Especially after they got rid of majority of their old scouts last year.
Toni Lima, who was in Barcelona’s La Masia set-up and who also went on to play 64 times for the Andorran national team, is the most noticeable name appointed by the North London outfit.
He has previously worked with the likes of Manchester United and Inter Milan and was currently being employed by La Liga side Alavés when Arsenal knocked on his door.
Lima made a name for himself, after he helped bring Philippe Coutinho first and then Neymar to the European environment.
The Gunners will hand him the responsibility of covering the Spanish market.
Moving on, Romain Poirot will be handed over the duties of the French network. Poirot started his career as a scout with English club Nottingham Forest in 2008, where he was responsible in arranging trials for young French players of huge potential.
He then went onto work with Manchester City, Watford and even Manchester United.
The other name on the list is James Ellis, who has made a short trip from Fulham to the North side of London. The Englishman was a senior scout at The Cottagers, responsible of scouting players from England as well as Europe.
At Arsenal, he will only be handed the responsibility of covering the English market. Given that the London side have spent huge bucks on proven English talent with huge potential (a combined 80m on Ben White and Aaron Ramsdale), the club will hope to take the help of Ellis in recognizing players before their market value soars.
The three scouts mentioned above have been followed by several other personnel in smaller positions. All of them will have little say on the current window.
Their work can only be judged after a few years. And given they are working under technical director Edu, he should be taking full responsibility for any blunders, if there are any in the foreseeable future.
Right now, Arsenal’s task is to move on players. The likes of Runar Alex Runarsson, Sead Kolasinac, Hector Bellerin, Cedric, Ainsley Maitland Niles, Eddie Nketiah, Alexander Lacazette and Reiss Nelson can all depart on loan or a permanent deal before the transfer window concludes on August 31st.
And if they manage to cash in on them, it won’t be surprising to see a few more fresh faces at London Colney before the end of the shopping window.