Tony Adams has labelled Arsenal’s recruitment on Sky Sports (10/11/20 at 10:15) as ‘really poor’ and shared how they ‘got rid of some of the best scouts in the world’ in Francis Cagigao and Steve Morrow.
Over the summer, Arsenal made a number of changes to their backroom staff, with long-serving scout and Head of Recruitment, Cagigao given his marching orders.
For a number of years now, Arsenal’s transfer business has been questioned, but fans would claim that when last summer’s deals were done they were pretty happy with the work completed, whilst a certain Thomas Partey saved those in suits from a wave of anger from supporters this summer.
Nonetheless, England and Arsenal legend, Adams touched up their recruitment and seemingly suggested those above departures were a mistake.
“The class of 83 [when Adams came through], I had six internationals in my youth team,” said Adams. “Then Manchester United took over with the class of 92.
“You get players two ways. You actually develop them from the academy or you go and buy them. I think the recruitment has been really poor. I think Arsenal, at the moment, they have got rid of some of the best scouts in the world in Franny [Cagigao] and Stevie Morrow. There is a real shift.
“There is conflict sometimes, Willian has come into the team, he has the same agent as the Sports Director and I think sometimes there is a conflict there.”
Arsenal’s record transfer deals
- Nicolas Pepe
£72 million
- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
£56 million
- Alexandre Lacazette
£52 million
- Thomas Partey
45 million
- Mesut Ozil
£42 million
In truth, with the arrival of Mikel Arteta, it isn’t a surprise that such drastic changes were made because those Arsenal fans will feel that’s exactly what needs to happen in order for them to move forward.
But some may even point towards the fact that the biggest change that needs to be made is right at the top and that’s the owner selling up and allowing a fresh face to take over.
However, that’s a pipe dream for those Arsenal supporters because if things go wrong again this season then those in the boardroom will certainly feel the fans anger.
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