Arsenal announced "further changes" to its management structure on Tuesday after confirming that Ivan Gazidis decided to leave his role as CEO "to join AC Milan at the start of December," according to Gary Jacob of the LONDON TIMES. Gazidis was "instrumental in overhauling the way that Arsenal functioned on and off the pitch," including bringing in "a more continental system of recruitment," with the manager "focusing purely on coaching the first team." The work that Gazidis did on the playing side will be taken over by Raúl Sanllehí, who has been "the director of football in all but name" since his arrival from Barcelona in '17 and was given the new title of head of football. Vinai Venkatesham will transition from his role as chief commercial officer to managing director, and "has been given the task of overseeing the non-football side and business operations." It is also "likely" that Deputy Chair Josh Kroenke will take on a bigger role when Kroenke Sports & Entertainment UK, the company owned by his father, Stan, the club's majority shareholder, completes its full takeover. Josh conducted a thorough review of "what was and was not working at Arsenal last season." It is yet to be confirmed whether the club will eventually appoint a new CEO. When Milan first showed interest in Gazidis, "some questioned whether he would make the move after he battled for many years to put his desired structure in place at Arsenal and finally achieved that" with the departure of Manager Arsène Wenger last season. However, the 54-year-old was offered a salary of about £3.6M ($4.7M), roughly £1M ($1.3M) more than he earns at Arsenal, as well as an equity stake in AC Milan by American hedge fund Elliott Management, which owns the Italian club (LONDON TIMES, 9/18).
'A NEW CHAPTER': REUTERS' Smout, Peters & Awasthi reported the departure of Gazidis comes a month after Stan Kroenke took full control of Arsenal by buying Alisher Usmanov's shares in the club. Gazidis said, "Arsenal is entering a new chapter and I have done everything I can to ensure that it is strongly placed to take on that challenge." He added that many would say it was a "strange time" for him to leave. He said that he will be "working to restore [Milan] to its rightful place in football." AC Milan has also experienced "upheaval" this year. Elliott took control of the club in July after Li Yonghong, who last year bought AC Milan from former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi, "failed to make a repayment that was due to the U.S. fund" (REUTERS, 9/18). ESPN.com's Mattias Karen reported Gazidis "spent much of his tenure in the shadow" of Wenger, whose influence over most matters at the club "far exceeded that of his boss." But he was "crucial in overseeing the transition into the post-Wenger era." He brought in Sanllehí from Barcelona, hired Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund's chief scout, Sven Mislintat, as the club's head of recruitment and appointed Australian fitness expert Darren Burgess to the new role of director of high performance (ESPN.com, 9/18).
