Arsenal has just made some members of their staff redundant and in a separate restructuring job, the Gunners have also fired their scouts including, Francis Cagigao, who discovered the likes of Hector Bellerin, Cesc Fabregas and Gabriel Martinelli.
He worked for the club for more than a decade and his dismissal is one that has sparked reactions from the club’s ex-players as well as pundits.
Cesc Fabregas is the latest ex-Gunner who has talked about the issue and he paid tributes to the scouts who thought he was a star in the future and advised Arsenal to poach him from Barcelona’s La Masia when he was still very much a youngster.
He wrote per the Mail: ‘Thank you for the 24+ years of devotion, respect, loyalty and love you gave to @Arsenal. Nothing would have been the same for me if you didn’t spot me at 15 years old.
‘I wish you all the very best for the future. Your next team will be very lucky to have your football brain.’
The firing of the scouts shows that Arsenal is switching from a scout-based system of recruitment that has worked so well for them over the years and they are now more focused on signing players based on the recommendation from agents.