ARSENAL & THE SUPER AGENT

Some eyebrow-raising deals are going on at The Emirates...all overseen by the same man

ONCE upon a time it was Arsene Wenger who made all the footballing decisions at Arsenal. Judging by yesterday’s bizarre set of announcements, that was a far simpler time.

Here’s a question: what has Cedric Soares achieved since his arrival at the club to deserve a four-year contract?

It’s not an easy one to answer. Zero appearances so far since signing on loan from Southampton in January because of a knee injury makes yesterday’s confirmation of his permanent switch to London rather perplexing.

Maybe it is unfair to question the transfer. You don’t make over 100 Premier League appearances and have a European Championship winner’s medal if you can’t play. But a four-year deal? Really?

Delve a little deeper, however, and one might ask: is there a bigger picture behind their recruitment strategy?

Soares’ agent is Kia Joorabchian, who is known to have a very close relationship with head of football Raul Sanllehi. Technical director Edu also has a long-standing working relationship with the Iranian although the club were at pains to point out last night that he is not Edu’s agent.

But Joorabchian does represent David Luiz, who yesterday signed a new 12-month contract. There is a decent chance Arsenal, who also confirmed yesterday the capture of defender Pablo Mari on a four-year deal, will sign Willian from Chelsea on a free transfer at the end of the season. Who represents Willian? His surname starts with a J.

Philippe Coutinho and goalkeeper Norberto Neto have both been heavily linked with moves to the Emirates recently. The agent? Correct. A club empowering a preferred agent to facilitate their recruitment plans is nothing new. And there is nothing improper about it either.

Look at Wolves for example. Jorge Mendes’ influence has helped propel them to the brink of the Champions League. Would Mendes’ clients Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho, Diogo Jota and Rui Patricio be playing at Wolves if it wasn’t for the super agent’s clout? Probably not.

But this is Arsenal, a football club built on certain traditions. Wenger wouldn’t have stood for it.

There was always a reluctance with Wenger to engage with ‘super agents’ even if it was to the detriment of their recruitment strategy. His concern was that once you let them in the door you’ll never get them — or their players — out.

On August 31, 2014, Wenger went to sleep happy that Arsenal would be signing Radamel Falcao the following day. He woke up to discover Falcao’s representative Mendes had in fact used Arsenal’s interest as leverage to negotiate a transfer to Manchester United.

Wenger got burnt and vowed never to deal with a ‘super agent’ again. The appointment of Sanllehi, initially as head of football relations, and Sven Mislintat, as head of recruitment, in 2017 spelt the end of Wenger’s cast iron grip on transfers at Arsenal. Sanllehi was brought to the club for his contacts book or, more pertinently, his relationship with some of the biggest agents on the planet.

Indeed, Sanllehi leant on his relationship with Mendes to help broker Arsenal’s £72million record signing Nicolas Pepe from Lille last summer. As it turns out the problems on the pitch in recent seasons, resulting in the club not making the Champions League, means Sanllehi is having to lean on his allies more than ever.

And with Mislintat now gone, Sanllehi, Edu and a certain agent appear to be running the show.