Ex-Liverpool star Benayoun ‘in talks to be Arsenal sporting director’ as Gunners look to replace Edu
Former Liverpool and Chelsea star Yossi Benayoun is ‘in talks’ to become the new sporting director at Arsenal, according to reports.
Arsenal confirmed on November 4 that Edu had handed in his resignation as the Gunners’ sporting director, bringing to end his five-year spell at the Emirates Stadium which started as the club’s technical director before a promotion in November 2022.
His decision to quit Arsenal came as a shock to everyone, including Gunners boss Mikel Arteta, who had built an excellent relationship with the Brazilian in the process of building a squad capable of challenging for the Premier League.
Real Sociedad director of football Roberto Olabe has been among the people linked with replacing Edu at Arsenal, while there is also interest in Paris Saint-Germain football advisor Luis Campos.
And now Football Insider has claimed that former Gunners midfielder Benayoun ‘has held talks with Arsenal about the becoming the club’s new sporting director’.
The former Israel international ‘spoke to Arsenal officials about potentially replacing Edu in the vacant role but no offer has been made.’
Football Insider adds:
‘Arsenal are close to making a decision on naming a new sporting director following Edu’s departure last November with a number of high-profile names linked with the role.
‘Benayoun is currently out of work having left his role as sporting director of the Israel national team last March after two successful years in the job.’
The ex-Liverpool and Chelsea midfielder has revealed to the website that he is “of course” interested in landed a sporting director job in the Premier League.
“Of course I would be interested in a sporting director role in England, but I am also a pro licensed coach,” Benayoun told Football Insider. “Let’s see what comes up.”
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Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville wonders whether the decision for Edu to leave before the January transfer window “hampered their recruitment” as Arsenal struggle to keep pace in the Premier League with leaders Liverpool.
Neville said on the The Overlap US: “Yeah, I think losing Edu earlier in the season was strange, I don’t know whether that hampered their recruitment drive or not. But they’ve left themselves woefully short and where I have little sympathy for them is that they’ve had two title races already.
“This is a team that’s hardened to title races. They knew when they lost William Saliba that first season that they needed to buy defenders to make sure they didn’t leave themselves in that position again – and they did that last year.
“What they’ve now done is left themselves short in the centre forward position so it’s almost as if they’re always one step behind. My view is that they’re getting what they deserve at this moment in time.
“I’ve got a lot of love for this Arsenal team. I think they’ve grown immeasurably in these last few years but they’ve become a little bit rigid in the last months.”
