Arsenal Wanted Monchi for Director of Football Role, Reveals Unai Emery

Arsenal manager Unai Emery has revealed Monchi was a candidate to become the team's director of football before he joined Sevilla, saying the two spoke "a couple of times." 

Per Sport Witness' Tom Coast, the Gunners have been trying to fill the position for some time, with little success. Emery told El Larguero on Cadena Ser his former director Monchi was a candidate with a great reputation:

"The club always had the idea of incorporating someone to be the hinge between board and team, and there were several candidates. One was Monchi, who has an important reputation.

"I have a very good relationship. We spoke a couple of times, and, in the end, I work well with all. Everyone I've worked with, it's gone well, as it did with him."

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Monchi left AS Roma in March amid strong rumours he would be reuniting in London with Emery. The two previously worked together at Sevilla, finding tons of success, and speculation regarding a reunion had been floating for months.

The Sun's Mark Irwin even reported a "personal recommendation" of Emery led to an eventual agreement on a three-year deal, but Monchi instead returned to Andalusia.

Per Coast, the Spaniard has a reputation as a transfer wizard, specialising in getting the most out of relatively small budgets. That's exactly what Arsenal are looking for, as their spending has been well below that of rivals like Manchester City and Manchester United.

Some of Monchi's greatest hits include Carlos Bacca, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Dani Alves, Ivan Rakitic and Gregorz Krychowiak, who all enjoyed excellent spells with Sevilla before moving to bigger clubs.

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Arsenal were hopeful they had a similar transfer guru on their hands when they hired Sven Mislintat away from Borussia Dortmund. He lasted just 15 months in north London, however, per the Independent's Miguel Delaney and Luke Brown.

Per the report, Mislintat―who was hired as head of recruitment―wanted the role of sporting director for himself, but the Gunners were eyeing former midfielder Edu for that role.

Monchi joined Roma in 2017 but could never replicate the success he found at Sevilla, leading to his departure two years later.