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 7 - 26 of 86

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  1. Hi Sean Fay, that was great sports journalism. Keep up­ the good work bro!

    From spiritdotcom, on Wed 12 Nov 3:43PM
  2. it will be perfect to see the january transfer arsenal­ making a bid for ETO.what a perfect triker for a best­ club,am a man u fun but seeing eto playing at arsenal­ will make trouble in all premier league.he will create­ more game than ever before.

    From adu bary, on Wed 12 Nov 3:43PM
  3. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    What planet is Dale M on.

    No other club get 60,000.­ you're right Utd get 76,000.

    As for the­ "Kids" how many times have we heard this­ about the Arsenal. they looked good last night­ but........

    Oxford Supporter

    From phil, on Wed 12 Nov 3:28PM
  4. DAVEYCHEZ Nice to see that a true football supporter is­ about.Respect to other club supporters who cam see and­ applaude good football.TOMMO GUNNER

    From dt1301, on Wed 12 Nov 3:20PM
  5. Predominantly Man U.
    Watched the Arsenal kids last­ night, SUBLIME, ABSOLUTE QUALITY.
    Anyone who cannot see­ that should be watching the egg-chasers

    From DavyChez, on Wed 12 Nov 3:06PM
  6. You can go on about Arsenal not having trophies for 4­ years but talk about the other teams in the Premiership­ that haven't won ANYTHING or at least in DECADES.­ Jealousy is the trait of a woman so voice your opinions­ to someone else..

    From Jamie, on Wed 12 Nov 3:04PM
  7. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    invalid comment my arse what cr@p system have u got­ scanning these posts.

    From Jamie, on Wed 12 Nov 3:03PM
  8. GREAT LADS!ANOTHER GREAT TEAM IN THE MAKING, THE TROPHY­ WILL DEFINATELY FOLLOW AND WILL GO "TWO SEASON­ UNBEATEN".

    From alex o, on Wed 12 Nov 2:54PM
  9. muyassarsalarroo. "Middle class team" what­ other team in the premiership sits 60'000 people­ weekly. None, fact arsenal pull in more fans than any­ other club in the premiership. ever been to the­ emirates? on the point of a feeder club the trophies­ will come with this system ... you will see and for all­ you people who question us ... you will see to..­

    these are kids beating £30 million pre-maddona's.

    From Dale M, on Wed 12 Nov 2:41PM
  10. Arsenal's real dream team should get more good­ players

    From Linch, on Wed 12 Nov 2:24PM
  11. in 50 years no one will remember the trophies, good­ football is, and always will be,
    the winner. we go to­ watch the game not the trophy

    From ivor b, on Wed 12 Nov 2:00PM
  12. As a utd fan, i just want to say that it was fanatastic­ to watch that arsenal side playing football last­ night....absolutley sublime performance from exquisite­ young talent.....My hat off to these guys who have­ found theses young players....Vela, Ramsay, Gibson,­ Gibbs, all of them......FANTASTIC.....Its worrying to­ see from a utd,chelsea, liverpool perspective....Keep­ it up Arsenal......And finally to all the people lookin­ for Arsene Wengers head last week......Ye are a bunch­ of tossers!!!!

    From Bunty, on Wed 12 Nov 1:44PM
  13. In 50 years no one will remember Arsenal playing­ football in a beautiful and entertaining way.All that­ matters in History are the trophies.And i'm­ convinced that arsenal will not have many to boast­ about (trophyless in the last 4 years)

    From muyassarsalarroo, on Wed 12 Nov 1:44PM
  14. dont care if arsenal never win Silver their football is­ gold to watch

    From ivor b, on Wed 12 Nov 1:41PM
  15. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    lets see if they win anything first before they deserve­ this praise

    From lesleyhumphreys34, on Wed 12 Nov 1:37PM
  16. wonder how such a 'great' team feel to spend­ four season with no silverware

    From Andrew, on Wed 12 Nov 1:28PM
  17. who exactlya re arsenal serving as feeder club to?

    From ME, on Wed 12 Nov 1:24PM
  18. great to read about these scouts who play such a huge­ role in the club. thanks!!

    From Hamad, on Wed 12 Nov 1:17PM
  19. great to read about these scouts who play such a huge­ role in the club. thanks!!

    From Hamad, on Wed 12 Nov 1:17PM
  20. The truth is that we in this part of the world cherish­ good football. The yongest team in the world today is­ Arsenal and they are the most entertaining team today.­ Their flai has no comparism.The Truth.

    From stanleyhamilton22, on Wed 12 Nov 1:15PM
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