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Arsenal officially appoint scouting guru: His first deal could be explosive
Tom Weber
- Updated: 23 Dec 2025 16:30 GMT
- 4 min read
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Former Napoli chief scout Maurizio Micheli has officially started working in his new role at Arsenal, according to Fabrizio Romano.
The Italian arrives at the Emirates with a sparkling reputation for unearthing talent. Micheli built a team that has won two Serie A titles in recent years, and he made the club a fortune with his excellent player identification.
Micheli brought the likes of Marek Hamsik, Victor Osimhen, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Kim Min-jae to Napoli, so his arrival in North London has sparked plenty of excitement.
In his new capacity, Micheli will work closely with Arsenal sporting director Andrea Berta to build a team that can maintain a position at the summit of the European game for years to come.
In the summer, Berta primarily signed ready-made first-team players for the Gunners. Going forward, Arsenal will put more of an emphasis on younger players, as illustrated by their recent signing of Ecuadorian twins Holger and Edwin Quintero.
Micheli's first signing could cause a stir
According to Fabrizio Romano, Micheli has now officially started in his new role. However, an agreement for him to join Arsenal had been in place since at least November, so he will likely have already made recommendations beforehand.
Heading into January, Arsenal are looking at a couple of potential reinforcements. For one, scouts from North London have earmarked 20-year-old Elche midfielder Rodrigo Mendoza as an option. He has a €20 million release clause, and a mid-season bid has been described as possible.
Additionally, Arsenal have also been heavily linked with a player much closer to home as far as Micheli is concerned. The Italian press has reported that the Premier League leaders have taken a liking to AC Milan starlet Davide Bartesaghi.
As explained earlier on Tuesday, his arrival would be quite controversial as he plays in the same position as fan favourite Myles Lewis-Skelly, who has struggled for minutes in the Premier League this season.
Signing the 19-year-old would create even more competition for Lewis-Skelly and potentially limit his game time further. Despite his importance to Milan, they could be tempted to sell him because he would represent pure profit on the books.
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