Arsenal are set to strengthen their transfer recruitment team with the appointment of Napoli talent spotter Maurizio Michele.
Napoli’s head of scouting is in advanced negotiations to join the Gunners having been earmarked for a key role by Andrea Berta.
Michele has enjoyed two hugely successful spells at the reigning Serie A champions and has been credited with unearthing a number of the club’s most successful signings over the course the last 15 years.
Club legend Marik Hamsik was discovered by Michele, as was Bayern Munich centre half Kim Min-jae who joined the Bundesliga giants for a fee of €50million, which represented a €32m profit.
More recently, according to the BBC, Michele unearthed Khvicha Kvaratskhelia who joined Napoli as a total unknown but departed in January with a reputation as one of European football’s best wingers, a status he cemented by playing a prominent role in Paris Saint-Germain’s maiden Champions League triumph.
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Aside from his work at Napoli, Michele has held positions at various Italian clubs including Udinese where he helped give opportunities to African players like Asamoah Gyan and Sulley Muntari both of whom enjoyed successful Premier League careers.
Michele’s imminent appointment will trigger further behind the scenes changes at the north London club.
Berta’s appointment as Edu’s replacement as sporting director has already been hailed as a masterstroke following an unprecedented summer recruitment drive which saw the arrivals of eight first team ready players.
While the likes of Martin Zubimendi, Viktor Gyokeres and Eberechi Eze have made immediate impacts, Berta has also secured the futures of a number players who whose contracts were in precarious positions.
Two of the club’s most promising youngsters, Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly, have both signed new deals while defensive linchpins Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba have both committed their futures to the club.
Work is underway, meanwhile, to tie Bukayo Saka to a new long-term deal, while Jurrien Timber and Declan Rice are likely to begin talks over renewing their contracts in the near future.
Elsewhere, Long-serving executive James Ellis was promoted into the position of technical director – player recruitment earlier this year.
Executive vice-chair Tim Lewis, a close ally of Stan and Josh Kroenke, meanwhile, left in September with Richard Garlick taking on the role of chief executive officer.