Arsenal signing top Italian football scout

Mikel Arteta arrived to establish a playing style. After his departure, Edu also left, and Andrea Berta — one of the architects of the new Atletico Madrid — was appointed as sporting director to build a team capable of fighting for the title. Last June, Arsenal spent nearly 300 million euros, and now they sit at the top of the Premier League table. But that’s only the beginning, as another major addition to their scouting department is being planned at the Emirates.

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That addition is Maurizio Micheli — currently employed at Napoli, where he has worked, with a brief interruption, since 2010. And although his official role at Arsenal hasn’t yet been defined, it’s clear he won’t interfere with Berta’s job. Because Berta has long been a big name. He’s a negotiator — the man who in Madrid secured the signings of established stars such as Antoine Griezmann, Jan Oblak, Rodri, and Joao Felix. In his first transfer window in London, he convinced Martin Zubimendi, Eberechi Eze, Viktor Gyökeres, Noni Madueke, Cristian Mosquera, Christian Nørgaard, and Kepa Arrizabalaga to join Arsenal.

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And Micheli? Micheli is the hard-working grinder who doesn’t just look at the biggest leagues but “digs” wherever he can. He was the one who brought Kalidou Koulibaly from Genk to Napoli, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia from Dinamo Batumi, Kim Min-jae from Fenerbahce, and also Marek Hamšík, whom he had previously discovered in Slovakia and brought to Brescia’s youth team. From those four players alone, the club earned a total of 137 million — and probably gained even more on the pitch.

So it’s clear why Arsenal are interested. And since English clubs pay their executives far better than Italian ones, it’s only a matter of time before the deal is finalized and the 57-year-old scout packs his bags for London. It will be his fifth club role, as in addition to Napoli and Brescia, he has also worked at Bologna and, at the start of his career, at Udinese. Back then, he focused on the Ghanaian market, with his first major discoveries being Sulley Muntari and Asamoah Gyan. Since then, he has only continued to earn more and more respect.