Unai Emery has admitted he is uncertain whether Arsenal’s chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, will stay at the club amid reports he is set to take up a position with Milan.
Gazidis has been at Arsenal since January 2009 and played a pivotal role in reshaping the club, most notably by overseeing the departure of Arsène Wenger as manager and the installation of a team around him that includes Raul Sanllehi as head of football relations, Sven Mislintat as head of recruitment and Emery as head coach.
Arsenal released a statement from the chairman, Sir Chips Keswick, on Wednesday saying Gazidis remains fully committed to the club but reports in Italy continue to claim he is set to be appointed to a similar role at San Siro following the takeover of Milan by the US hedge fund Elliot Management.
“Every day we are doing meetings together, speaking about the Arsenal project, speaking about how we can improve, how we can work together and move forward as a club,” Emery said after Arsenal’s defeat against Atlético Madrid in their pre-season friendly here on Thursday. “Ivan, when I arrived, the first meeting was with him. He’s a very good person, a very good professional. He has lots of experience in the football world. I don’t know what he is going to do because I only speak with him on the Arsenal project.”
Sky in Italy are reporting Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis is set to join AC Milan as executive director in September.
Milan have recently been taken over by an American hedge fund called Elliot Management and it is understood Gazidis is the man they wish to come in.
Gazidis, who arrived at the Emirates in 2008, was the man who replaced Arsene Wenger with new boss Unai Emery. Emery’s arrival was preceded by an overhauling of the club’s structure by Gazidis as he brought in head of relations Raul Sanllehi from Barcelona and former Borussia Dortmund scout Sven Mislintat as head of recruitment. Gazidis is currently in Singapore with the squad for their pre-season tour.
Arsenal finished sixth in the Premier League last season and parted ways with Veteran manager Arsene Wenger and Gazidis swiftly replaced him with Unai Emery. His departure could cause further disruption at board level for Arsenal with Alisher Usmanov allegedly exploring the sale of his 30 per cent stake in the club to majority shareholder Stan Kroenke, according to the Financial Times.
The Russian billionaire had hoped to buy the club from Kroenke but the US sports mogul has refused to engage in takeover talks, the paper said, citing people close to Usmanov.