Monchi Drops Hint He Will Snub Arsenal, Return to Sevilla

Former AS Roma sporting director Monchi has hinted he will snub Arsenal for a return to old club Sevilla amid reports his move to Andalusia is only a matter of time.

Football Italia reported Sevilla have confirmed negotiations are under way, and club president Jose Castro noted his "receptiveness has been extraordinary."

Monchi has now taken to social media, dropping a major hint he's set to return, per Estadio Deportivo (h/t Sport Witness):

The message came just one day after the Mirror's John Cross tweeted Arsenal were certain Monchi would accept their offer and Sevilla's bid came too late:

While Cross said the Gunners were only looking at the Spaniard, football.london's James Benge reported on other candidates, including Ajax's Marc Overmars:

Arsenal have been considered favourites to land Monchi since before his time in Italy came to an end. The transfer expert worked wonders with current Gunners boss Unai Emery while the two were at Sevilla.

Monchi spent more than 15 years at the club before making the move to the Italian capital, where results were mixed. Roma have a reputation as a selling club, and departures of Radja Nainggolan, Alisson Becker and Mohamed Salah brought in plenty of cash, but Monchi's replacements didn't always work out.

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Roma recently sacked their coach Eusebio Di Francesco, and Monchi's contract was terminated by mutual consent shortly after, per Football Italia.

Like Roma, Sevilla have struggled during the 2018-19 campaign, and they sacked their manager Pablo Machin after their UEFA Europa League exit on Thursday. Their form in La Liga has seen the club slide out of the top four.

The club is in disarray, as explained by Spanish football writer Sid Lowe:

Monchi's return should settle things down in Andalusia, bringing back some much-needed stability.

Arsenal will have to look elsewhere for their new director of football, but that may not be such a bad thing. Monchi's limited success outside of the Sevilla system may have been due to Roma's struggles, but it also hinted he may not be able to replicate his formula at a bigger club.

Overmars has found tremendous success at Ajax and spent some of the best years of his playing career with the Gunners.