Premier League - Meet Arsenal's real dream team

Eurosport - Thu, 13 Nov 12:54:00 2008

Those who watched Arsenal's kids outclass a full-strength Wigan side in the Carling Cup on Tuesday night were again left wondering just where Arsenal keep finding all these players?

2008-2009 Arsenal Arsene Wenger - 0

Arsenal's ability to unearth gems from around the world is now legendary but still little is known about the people who actually find all these amazing talents.

Eurosport.yahoo.co.uk takes a look at Arsenal's real dream team - their scouting network - a collection of individuals who save the club a fortune in transfer fees.

Manager - Arsene Wenger

We have to start at the top, and manager Wenger really is the brains behind the whole operation. From his first day in charge he set about bringing a global vision to the club. Only after studying an extensive dossier and video footage of a player will Wenger even consider making a move for him. He is always the ultimate judge when it is decided whether a player is good enough for Arsenal.

Chief scout - Steve Rowley

The leader of a scouting operation that includes seven English scouts and 16 more abroad, Rowley will always travel to watch a player before he is recommended to Wenger. Rowley has been at Arsenal for 30 years and discovered the likes of Tony Adams and Ray Parlour, but before Wenger arrived he had never been on a working assignment outside of Britain. Since then he has travelled all over the planet and is held in such high esteem that clubs have constantly tried to poach him. He recently turned down a big money move to Zenit St Petersburg.

Spanish scout - Francis Cagigao

Cagigao is a former youth player at Arsenal and Barcelona but while he never quite made it as a first-teamer he has become a valuable asset as a scout. Cagigao is the man who identified Cesc Fabregas as a player worth chasing and he recommended Lionel Messi to Arsenal with work permit issues preventing a move for the Argentine at the time. Recently he discovered Fran Merida - tipped as the 'new Fabregas' - who starred against Wigan.

South American scout - Sandro Orlandelli

Based in Brazil, Orlandelli immediately called Rowley when he saw Carlos Vela playing at the World Youth Championships in Peru. Orlandelli also became friends with Vela's father, which helped seal the deal. Denilson was another Orlandelli discovery, while he also first spotted young left-sided player Pedro Botelho who is currently on loan at Salamanca in Spain. He scouted Olympiacos striker Diogo, for whom Arsenal had two bids rejected before his move to Greece from Sao Paulo side Portuguesa.

The close friend - Jean-Marc Guillou

Not directly on the Arsenal payroll, yet Guillou has been a key player in the Arsenal success story. His football schools in Africa helped unearth Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue, and his close relationship with Wenger made sure that the Arsenal boss found out first. Guillou was also manager of Belgian club Beveren during the co-operation agreement between the clubs which ran from 2001until 2006.

French scout - Gilles Grimandi

Wenger has an in-depth knowledge of the French game, but when he hears about a top prospect in his homeland he instructs former player Grimandi to keep a keen eye on him. Positive reports from Grimandi on the likes of Abou Diaby, Bacary Sagna, Alex Song, and Mathieu Flamini persuaded Wenger to sign them.

The international partnerships performance supervisor - Steve Morrow

Most famous for scoring the winning goal in the 1993 League Cup final before breaking his arm in the post-match celebrations, Morrow recently started managing Arsenal's international partnerships, which currently includes the Colorado Rapids of the MLS, BEC Tero of Thailand and Hoang Anh Gia Lai of Vietnam. Morrow also assists Arsenal's academies in countries such as Egypt and Ghana.

Scandinavian scout - Bobby Bennett

Bennett has been working for Arsenal in Scandinavia for seven years and helped to persuade Nicklas Bendtner to join the club by presenting him with a signed shirt from his favourite player - Robert Pires. Bennett also scouted Havard Nordtveit, a 17-year-old Norwegian centre-half who is considered one of Arsenal's top prospects and who is currently on loan with Botelho at Salamanca.

Germany scout - Thomas Kost

It didn't 'Kost' much for Arsenal to get either Philippe Senderos or Lukasz Fabianski because both were spotted by Kost early in their careers.

Italian scout - Tony Banfield

Banfield is the son of reserve team coach Neil. His big recent discovery was Johan Djourou who came up on his radar after he overheard two agents talking about the Swiss centre-half at a youth tournament in Croatia.

The ex-players - Peter Clarke and Danny Karbassiyoon

Two more former Arsenal youth players are part of the scouting network, with Clarke based in Holland and Karbassiyoon covering North America and Mexico.

The head of youth development - Liam Brady

The Arsenal and Ireland legend oversees the development of the young players once they arrive at Arsenal, ensuring they can play Wenger's unique brand of football. He has been at the club since just before Wenger arrived in 1996. Former Arsenal great Steve Bould is also involved with the youngsters as head coach of the Under-18 Academy side.

Seán Fay / Eurosport

Comment 27 - 46 of 86

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  1. First of all alexjimandmatt, what does any oxford supporter know about football ? Secondly Man.Utd dont even get 40,000 at a carling cup game and their reserves only get about 500. So your knowledge would be questionable. Any real football fan apart from Wigans who saw that match last night would be impressed. I dont think that even the Fergie Fledglings ( giggs, beckham, Butt, and the Nevilles ) got any were near the standard that we all saw last night. No other club in this country could put out a reserve side and expect to do what Arsenal did last night.So please stop with the sour grapes and just enjoy Wengers Wonderkids.!!!!

    From Alan, on Wed 12 Nov 5:35PM

  2. Dale M, you're a clown! "what other team in the premiership sits 60'000 people weekly. None, fact" Where do you get these "facts" from? I think you will find that Man Utd's average attendance is over 15,000 higher than Arsenal's.
    Also, what £30 million pre-madonnas are you talking about from that Wigan team??

    From owens.greg@..., on Wed 12 Nov 5:31PM

  3. just a thought, but have not man u and chelsea bought thier silverware,

    From ivor b, on Wed 12 Nov 5:28PM

  4. Arsenal= @#$%

    From Ben, on Wed 12 Nov 5:27PM

  5. Yes they played well,but their gonna aint they! they all know no chance of 1st team action at arsnal so they in the shop window. Shame Arsene Whinger to spineless to give them a go! But you dont win nothing with kids do yer.

    From Andrew, on Wed 12 Nov 5:22PM

  6. The future is bright... the future is Arsenal

    From sjoerdveer, on Wed 12 Nov 5:19PM

  7. I LOVE ARSENAL!!!! THEY R GOING TO BE UNSTOPPABLE IN A COUPLE OF YEARS TIME!!!!!!

    From Abigail, on Wed 12 Nov 5:12PM

  8. we go on saying no one will remember playing a good game in 50 yrs. only trophies but how true is that. dont know how many trophies the haarlem globetrotters won but i know they played a beautiful game. the memory that arsenal are leaving are not for statistitians but for us the fans. if u love results above all else please by all means support chelsea or even mourinho. if i live to be 80, i'll remember this arsenal team and the way they play with a glow in my heart and that is what matters, not some statistic. trophies are great but i think football is entertainment and while trophies are important iti cannot be all that matters.

    From Kingsley, on Wed 12 Nov 5:02PM

  9. Someone please tell me what language iconoclast is using (36 and, bizarrely, 37 too)

    From Thomas, on Wed 12 Nov 4:50PM

  10. From Preston...watched the match at the Emirates Stadium..Fantastic Arsenal!!

    From bamber300, on Wed 12 Nov 4:48PM

  11. Nice one Bunty, a real football fan. Its easy to slag players, teams and other managers off which we all do, but standing up and being honest doesn't happen too much. Last night at the Emirates I was blown away by the pure quality and skill shown by the youngsters, I was grinning like a Cheshire cat. No disrespect to Wigan who had a couple of good chances but they weren't in it for most of the game. Pure magic.

    From wayne_hayes1965, on Wed 12 Nov 4:38PM

  12. iz only dumb @#$% sissies who chew bubble gum n rack durags lyk grouppies,walking on illusive platform dat will not understand d football policy in Arsenal FC. Gun aint nothing but pieces uv metals put 2gether 2 make it a weapon,n dats d Arsenal FC philosophy uv football.If not 4 Arsenal FC i would ve been listening 2 some Fela Anikolapo Kuties song or prince Niko Nbagga n 4get watching any football match @ all.Arsenal iz not good enough yet had 11 players @ d last world cup,n wanna bee still pay 2 watch all Arsenal fixture n keep 2 actual kick off time lyk tyme keeperz.Brace ur selz (GUNNER 4 LYFE).una go fear naww..

    From Mike, on Wed 12 Nov 4:31PM

  13. iz only dumb @#$% sissies who chew bubble gum n rack durags lyk grouppies,walking on illusive platform dat will not understand d football policy in Arsenal FC. Gun aint nothing but pieces uv metals put 2gether 2 make it a weapon,n dats d Arsenal FC philosophy uv football.If not 4 Arsenal FC i would ve been listening 2 some Fela Anikolapo Kuties song or prince Niko Nbagga n 4get watching any football match @ all.Arsenal iz not good enough yet had 11 players @ d last world cup,n wanna bee still pay 2 watch all Arsenal fixture n keep 2 actual kick off time lyk tyme keeperz.Brace ur selz (GUNNER 4 LYFE).

    From Mike, on Wed 12 Nov 4:28PM

  14. arsenal used to be a great team during the time or thiery henry,pires,viera,ashly cole.when u see them playing u will know something will happen.hope nobody will 4get the unbeaten season.DT1301,if now u think u have a better team,everybody is waiting to see that happening again.

    From adu bary, on Wed 12 Nov 4:23PM

  15. the expression we always hear is THE BEAUTIFUL GAME OF FOOTBALL. Without being biased which i am as a GOONER i feel that ARSENAL play this. As i stated earlier RESPECT TO ALL FOOTBALL FANS WHO APPRECIATE GOOD FLOWING FOOTBALL.
    ETO would be a nice signing ADU B but do we really need another stricker when we have talent in the wings?
    TOMMO GUNNER

    From dt1301@..., on Wed 12 Nov 4:06PM

  16. They said the same 4 years ago "theyll be unstopable when the grow up"

    4 years later biggest achievment is beating Real Madrid and AC milan...no silverware coming soon totenham look more likely lol

    From glenn, on Wed 12 Nov 4:01PM

  17. Thats all arsenal is a youth academy...Wont win anything for years as long as theyre a feeder club lol...

    Loosing to Hull and Stoke shows they need some real men in the team....

    From glenn, on Wed 12 Nov 3:57PM

  18. Gr8 to hear that not everyone is into Cups in the cabinets. The quality of Arsenal was shown again in all its glory last night. The most attractive football in the UK and Europe.

    From charliesturt2000, on Wed 12 Nov 3:53PM

  19. re; bunty...The Man U fan!!!!!!
    Well said mate.....im Arsenal thru and thru but its always good to see a Man U fan praising the gooners.....ur not the first person from the mancs to say this

    From wilfyboy, on Wed 12 Nov 3:52PM

  20. the boys were really hungr for it yesterday.......if wenger manages to keep the squad then in 3 seasons or so Arsenal will be unstoppable

    From sijabule_dube, on Wed 12 Nov 3:48PM
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