Arsenal's third fitness officer leaves the club


Tom Allen, Arsenal's head of sports science and performance, is the latest key player to leave the club this summer, according to a report from the BBC. Allen will join Zafar Iqbal, head of medicine, and Sam Wilson, chief performance coach, among those who have left. These departures come alongside an internal review of Arsenal's medical team by Joaquin Acedo, with the report suggesting Acedo's influence on changes this summer has been significant. While not all of those leaving were forced to leave, previous reports suggested Wilson had the option to stay but chose to leave to take on a more senior role. Many media outlets have reported that Eneko Angulo from Real Betis could join Aston Villa's Arnaldo Abrantes to fill the unexpected gap in Arsenal's medical team, although these appointments are yet to be confirmed. Arsenal are also negotiating to appoint Pascal De Maesschalck as the new academy director after the departure of Per Mertesacker, and the position of head coach of Arsenal's U21 team is also vacant after Max Porter moved to Stoke City. Furthermore, Arsenal are said to be bringing in Javier Alonso from Spanish Segunda Division club Granada CF to work alongside Andrea Berta, while Maurizio Micheli joined from Napoli earlier this year. Clearly, this has been a summer of major changes within the club's machinery, although very little has changed with the actual playing squad at this time.