Arsenal are believed to be plotting a move to bring in Roma's sporting director Monchi as their new technical director, as they look to secure a replacement for Sven Mislintat.
The German is leaving his role with the Gunners after spending just over a year with the club, having played an integral role in the recruitment of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Sokratis Papastathopoulos. However, it is thought that the 46-year-old chose to leave the club after becoming frustrated by the lack of transfer funds available.
According to Calcio Mercato, Arsenal have earmarked Monchi as an ideal candidate to secure them top quality players in the coming years, and will make an approach for the Roma man upon Mislintat's departure early next month. Monchi worked with Unai Emery at Sevilla, and has previously signed players such as Dani Alves and Ivan Rakitić.
While the Gunners splashed over £70m in last summer's transfer window, their spending still pales in comparison to that of Manchester City and Liverpool - the two sides who look set to battle it out for the Premier League title. Monchi has a reputation for securing promising talents at bargain prices, and could look to replicate this under Arsenal's strict financial limits.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich are believed to have no interest in securing Mislintat's services, despite previous reports suggesting otherwise. According to Bild, the Bavarian giants have made no approach for the 46-year-old, and are believed to be happy with their current chief scout Marco Neppe.
In other news, Arsenal have confirmed that their wing-back Héctor Bellerín will be out for the rest of the season, after picking up an anterior cruciate ligament injurto his left knee during the Gunners' 2-0 London derby win over Chelsea last Saturday. The Spain international is set to have surgery in the coming days, and looks to be out for between six and nine months.
