Arsene Wenger has insisted that Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez will not leave Arsenal in January ahead of their match with Huddersfield.
Arsene Wenger insists Arsenal's new chief scout Sven Mislintat will report to him rather than Ivan Gazidis, saying the club CEO has "nothing to do with buying players."
Arsenal made another change in their backroom reshuffle on Tuesday by hiring Barcelona's outgoing director of football Raul Sanllehi to oversee transfer negotiations.
That is in addition to bringing in Mislintat from Borussia Dortmund earlier this month to head up scouting operations, with Gazidis landing two well-respected names to help boost the club's transfer business.
But when asked if Mislintat would be working mostly with Gazidis or himself, Wenger was quick to tell reporters: "With me. Ivan has nothing to do with buying players.
"Today I think we have a structure in England to know everybody, and we have taken somebody who has international experience. That's why we made that decision."
Ivan Gazidis is Arsenal's CEO.
Still, many have viewed the backroom shuffle as an attempt from Arsenal to prepare for life after Wenger, who was handed a new two-year contract in May despite widespread opposition from fans after a fifth-place finish in the Premier League last season.
Sanllehi will take over the duties previously handled by chief contract negotiator Dick Law, one of Wenger's closest allies.
Arsenal also hired contract expert Huss Fahmy in the summer, while chief scout Steve Rowley is taking on a lighter workload since Mislintat's appointment, focusing on youth players, and is expected to eventually retire.
"We have Huss, who is a top pro but has just joined us," Wenger said. "But he's doing an excellent job, I rate him highly. But there's still a need [for a chief negotiator]."
Mattias is ESPN FC's Arsenal correspondent. Follow him on Twitter: @MattiasKaren.
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Source: espn.co.uk