Ivan Gazidis leaving Arsenal in excellent shape, insists Unai Emery

Unai Emery has insisted that chief executive Ivan Gazidis will leave Arsenal in excellent shape to succeed when he departs for AC Milan next month.

The Gunners confirmed yesterday that Gazidis has agreed to join the Serie A giants following lengthy talks with the club’s American hedge fund owners, Elliott Management.

Gazidis’ departure also signals a further restructuring of the club’s hierarchy with Raul Sanllehi, formerly head of football relations, becoming head of football and Vinai Venkatesham switching from chief commercial officer to managing director.

The club have no plans to appoint a replacement chief executive. Along with Sanllehi and head of recruitment Sven Mislintat, Gazidis was part of the three-man panel which chose Emery as Arsene Wenger’s successor and the Spaniard believes the personnel now in place are ready to help deliver a sustained upturn in results.

“The first three months with Ivan were very important for me because he’s a big person, and a professional person too,” said Emery.

“The relationship between us was very close for three months. We spoke a lot about football, about management, about how big Arsenal is and our responsibility.

“His decision is a private one which I respect.

“I know Ivan is giving us the best next people [successors] to take the responsibility to continue to do good work.”