How Maurizio Micheli can help take Arsenal and Mikel Arteta to the next level

Arsenal-linked Maurizio Micheli could be the key to unlock a persistent failing department that Edu Gaspar never completed his mission to change

Arsenal are closing in on appointing Maurizio Micheli to a senior recruitment role at the club following his work at Napoli, which has gained plaudits throughout the sport. He is credited with finding some of Serie A’s most impressive gems, such as Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Marek Hamsik from his time with multiple Italian clubs.

Andrea Berta, Arsenal’s current sporting director, had been looking to strengthen his recruitment group for some time. After the exits of Jason Ayto and Tim Lewis, who had both been involved in the club’s transfer business for some time, James Ellis had been promoted to the role of technical director.

Talks had been held with former Juventus scout Matteo Tognozzi, but the club opted not to appoint the 38-year-old. Micheli, 57, would arrive with a vast level of experience and join forces with Berta in a way that could change the Gunners’ approach to the transfer market and their strategy.

Berta has overseen a massive change to Arsenal’s recruitment policy in a short period of time. Eight signings in his first summer as sporting director and a record amount spent, over £250million not including the £45million option included in Piero Hincapie’s loan move from Bayer Leverkusen.

The Arsenal squad is in the healthiest position it has ever been. Furthermore, Berta’s work in renewing player contracts has been vital with William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly all extending their deals while David Raya and Leandro Trossard were rewarded with improved terms.

Bukayo Saka, Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice are also understood to be in the Italian’s sights for renewals, with talks with the aforementioned pair progressing well. While there is less pressure on Rice’s future now, it remains of keen interest to the club to lock the England midfielder down.

With a squad with an average age of less than 26, what Micheli’s arrival could change is a pressing matter which has been plaguing the club for some time. Arsenal’s signings over recent seasons have almost exclusively been to improve the first team, immediately.

Mikel Arteta’s arrival in December 2019 was the beginning of a squad revamp that would effectively, in two to three seasons, remove around 90% of the squad he inherited. The only players remaining from his appointment are Bukayo Saka, William Saliba and Gabriel Martinelli.

With the squad in the state it is today, the likelihood of another eight-player window that sees every single player enter the first team plans is unlikely. Even with older players like Leandro Trossard, Christian Norgaard and Mikel Merino having a closer exit date in the near future, these players can be replaced efficiently.

However, where Micheli comes in will be in starting to evolve the recruitment and particularly working with Sam Hayball. Hayball is the club’s loan manager, taking on the role from Ben Knapper who left to become Norwich sporting director in 2023.

Arsenal’s loan system has been mainly used for loaning out starlets from the youth team or players whose futures couldn’t be resolved with a sale. The likes of Nuno Tavares, Reiss Nelson, Fabio Vieira, Marquinhos, the list goes on…

Edu Gaspar was at the centre of this exodus of players for little-to-no financial return, somewhat predicated by the global pandemic.

Discovering gems for a top club often requires further development elsewhere and so sometimes signing players like Savinho to the City Football Group requires loans from Troyes (a multi-club model partner of Manchester City) to PSV and Girona before his integration into the senior team.

Chelsea have been notorious with this and while the players have not always made it to the first team they’ve been sold for profit. Renato Veiga, Carney Chukwuemeka, Ian Omari Hutchinson, Kurt Zouma, again, the list goes on…

Whereas, look at the sales from an Arsenal perspective, and it is not pretty reading. Being able to find, develop and either integrate or sell talents for profit needs to become a strand of the recruitment arm of the club which has simply not existed in recent years.

While fans will be excited to see what stars Micheli can unearth for the Gunners, ultimately, the holistic benefit he can bring will be what most should be looking into for the club’s future.