Wenger loses key ally as pressure piles up at Arsenal
Transfer negotiator Law leaving after eight years Manager still maintains side can win the title
Arsene Wenger will lose one of his closest allies at Arsenal at the end of this month after the club’s principle transfer negotiator Dick Law decided to step down from his position.
The Daily Telegraph revealed in February that Law’s long-term future at Arsenal was in doubt and a club spokesman confirmed last night that he would officially leave at the end of the month.
It has not yet been decided whether Law will be replaced and the club appointed former Team Sky legal and commercial expert Huss Fahmy to work on player contracts in the summer.
But the departure of Law leaves a hole in Arsenal’s recruitment structure following a difficult summer transfer window and ahead of a potentially tough January window.
The chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, has now taken up an office at the London Colney training ground, which perhaps indicates he intends to take a more hands-on role with the football operation. Gazidis has always spent a lot of time at Colney, where he lunches with Wenger, but has now set up an office there while retaining his base at Highbury House at the Emirates Stadium.
Law is understood to be returning to his native America for family reasons and his exit will be keenly felt by the Arsenal manager.
The pair have worked closely together for the past eight years. Before then he scouted for Arsenal in South America and helped take Gilberto Silva and Carlos Vela to the club. Although he has never been given the title, Law has operated much like a director of football since moving to England in helping to clinch deals and negotiating with clubs, players and agents.
One of his biggest successes was the £42 million signing of Mesut Ozil in the final days of the 2013 transfer window, in which he managed to keep negotiations secret from Arsenal’s rivals. Law was talking to Ozil’s father and his then agent Mustafa in Germany while Gazidis brokered the deal with Real Madrid in Spain.
Other than being a hugely popular figure inside Arsenal, Law has built strong relationships with and earned the respect of chief executives and directors of football at home and abroad.
The bookmakers have already written off Arsenal’s chances of winning the Premier League this season, making them 25-1 outsiders. Arsenal have begun the season with consecutive away defeats, including the 4-0 drubbing at Liverpool, but Wenger backed Gazidis’s assessment that the squad had sufficient strength to end what would be a 14-year wait to win the title.
“I think we are strong enough [for the title],” said Wenger ahead of this afternoon’s home clash with Bournemouth. His optimism is founded on the belief there is greater first-team strength following the summer buys of Alexandre Lacazette and Sead Kolasinac, but appears to overlook the impact of uncertainty over many key players.
Asked if the team was stronger than last season, Wenger replied: “I think it depends on what period of the season. We had contrasting periods of the season last year. We have to show that you can improve the team by being together and improving together. Last year we made 75 points, we won the FA Cup and this year we have to do better.”
Arsenal are sixth favourites for the title behind Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool. “Some teams who are the new favourites, they are not in a better position than us,” said Wenger.
Many Arsenal fans will take convincing. Gazidis will be grilled at a fans’ forum before today’s game with Bournemouth. The Supporters’ Trust has revealed a list of questions it plans to ask. These centre on the “mismanaged transfer window” and the decision to reappoint Wenger “against the wishes of the independent members of the board”.