Marc Overmars Reportedly Poised for Arsenal Return as Transfer Chief

Former Arsenal winger Marc Overmars is set to return to the club next summer in a "director-of-football-style role" after serving Dutch powerhouse Ajax in a similar capacity for the past five years. 

That's according to Adam Shergold of MailOnline, who wrote Overmars will make his north London comeback despite manager Arsene Wenger's protestations against appointing such a figure.

Dick Law served as Arsenal's chief transfer negotiator for eight years but stepped down from the role in September, per Lyall Thomas of Sky Sports, and he is yet to be replaced.

It was only last week that Wenger was quizzed on Overmars' chances of coming to the club in such a capacity, at which point he didn't give much hope for his former charge returning, as reported by Layth Yousif of MailOnline:

Since then, the Gunners lost 2-1 at Watford on Saturday in the latest disappointment of an already difficult start to the 2017-18 season, which suggests other members of the Arsenal hierarchy may have changed their stance on the matter.

Overmars didn't do much to encourage talk of the move when asked about a potential switch back in April, per The Independent's Jack Austin:

“I think there is a list with some names, and I might be on it. But it's not that exciting yet.

“I know the club pretty well, I have always kept in touch with Arsenal. So in that respect it is not surprising, because I've had a few good years. But right now we're focused on Ajax. I just signed here for four years.

“I had certain ambitions as a player, and I have those as a director of football. We'll see what happens in the future.”

Granit Xhaka was an expensive signing from Borussia Monchengladbach after arriving for around £32 million in 2016, a price tag he's yet to justify amid Arsenal's questionable record in the transfer market.

This season has seen two of Arsenal's most expensive stars—Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil—struggle to start regularly as their contracts wind to a close next summer, although record signing Alexandre Lacazette has shown promise.

That being said, he and free transfer Sead Kolasinac were the club's only major signings this past summer despite the Gunners finishing fifth in the Premier League last term and failing to qualify for the UEFA Champions League.

Overmars has earned praise for his work as chief transfer negotiator during his spell at the Amsterdam Arena, but Sport Witness recently highlighted there has been criticism of the Dutchman's dealings this summer:

Overmars moved to north London from Ajax in 1997 before joining Barcelona three years later. His post-playing career trajectory looks set to take him on a similar path.