Arsenal 'Working for Change' Amid Monchi Rumours, Says Unai Emery

Arsenal head coach Unai Emery has said he is used to working with a sporting director amid rumours linking the Gunners with Roma's Monchi. 

The club's former head of recruitment, Sven Mislintat, left the club earlier this month after his role looked set to be diminished, rather than evolve into the technical director job he had hoped, per Amy Lawrence of the Guardian.

As such, Arsenal are in need of a new person to take charge of their recruitment.

Monchi has a stellar reputation from his time at Roma and, most notably, Sevilla, where he worked with Emery, and Arsenal are prepared to pay the £2 million buyout clause to prise him away from his current role, per Italian outlet Il Messaggero (h/t Sam Elliott of the Mirror).

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Emery did not comment specifically on Monchi, but he said ahead of Arsenal's meeting with Bournemouth on Wednesday that the Gunners are looking to make a change after Mislintat's departure, per Jamie Braidwood of ESPN FC:

"I was usually working with a sporting director. Here I was working with Sven, and I was working well with him. The club is working for change. My focus, the players' focus and the coaches' focus is each match, and the club is working on how we can improve and how we can be better in the future with the people working for us."

Arsenal were unable to spend any money on permanent transfers in January, but Emery has been given assurances he will get new players in the summer.

It is clear where the Gunners need to make improvements most pressingly.

They have the third-best goalscoring record in the Premier League in 2018-19 having netted 55 goals in 27 appearances thanks to a potent attacking unit that includes Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette.

However, Arsenal's defensive record this term is the worst in the Premier League's top six.

The Gunners have conceded 37 goals in 27 matches in 2018-19. They have been plagued by fitness problems as Rob Holding and Hector Bellerin have both suffered season-ending injuries.

But they need greater quality and depth in the back line. At 33, Laurent Koscielny is not the player he once was yet arguably remains the club's best centre-back. Meanwhile, Shkodran Mustafi is not consistent enough to inspire any confidence in the middle of defence:

Unlike many of their top-four rivals, Arsenal will not be able to spend huge amounts of money in the summer.

However, Monchi has a reputation for seeking out bargains and discovering players yet to be in the spotlight, so it is no surprise Arsenal are interested in getting him on board to work with Emery.