Arsenal improving crucial aspect behind the scenes this summer

Arsenal improving crucial aspect behind the scenes this summer

A lot has been made of Arsenal’s first-team signings this summer, with Sead Kolasinac and Alexandre Lacazette arriving to provide a huge boost to the team, but significant movement is also being made behind the scenes, with Arsene Wenger improving on a crucial aspect that he has been criticised for previously- and it’s extremely important for Arsenal.

The Gunners confirmed yesterday that Per Mertesacker will retire at the end of the 2017/18 season and will take over as academy manager at London Colney, helping to provide his wealth of experience to the next generation of Arsenal star’s- and crucially ensuring those coming through are accustomed to Arsenal’s style and history.


In previous years, Arsenal have seen club legends and icons move elsewhere to begin their coaching or managerial duties, with the Gunners losing Thierry Henry to Belgium and Freddie Ljungberg to Wolfsburg in the past 12 months, whilst Patrick Vieira and Mikel Arteta are closely tied to Manchester United and Gunners legend Dennis Bergkamp excelling at Ajax.

There’s no doubt that each of those former players could have provided an impact behind the scenes in North London and Arsenal may be made to regret their failure to bring them into the club further down the line, although there’s is still the chance they could return to the Emirates Stadium.

Crucially though, Arsenal are making preparations to ensure this doesn’t happen again and securing Per Mertesacker for the future is an important addition to the academy, whilst it follows on from another big piece of news this week that saw Jens Lehmann return to the club as a first-team coach.

With Robert Pires being very public in his ambition to return to Arsenal, with the Frenchman seeking a Director of Football role, the Gunners could fill their ranks with ex-players who are accustomed to the way of life and it could breed a new era of coaches in North London.

Arsenal’s ageing guard behind the scenes includes the likes of Steve Bould as assistant manager and Gerry Peyton as a goalkeeping coach, with former defender Pat Rice retiring from his assistant manager role a few years ago- meaning there’s room for the next generation of former Arsenal players to come through.

Mertesacker is arguably one of the most important figures to tie down at London Colney as he’s been present for the Gunners transition in recent years, playing a key-part in Arsenal’s three FA Cup titles across the past four years.