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?
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.
Comment 7 - 26 of 86
Hi Sean Fay, that was great sports journalism. Keep up the good work bro!
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.
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
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
Predominantly Man U.
Watched the Arsenal kids last night, SUBLIME, ABSOLUTE QUALITY.
Anyone who cannot see that should be watching the egg-chasers
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..
invalid comment my arse what cr@p system have u got scanning these posts.
GREAT LADS!ANOTHER GREAT TEAM IN THE MAKING, THE TROPHY WILL DEFINATELY FOLLOW AND WILL GO "TWO SEASON UNBEATEN".
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.
Arsenal's real dream team should get more good players
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
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!!!!
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)
dont care if arsenal never win Silver their football is gold to watch
lets see if they win anything first before they deserve this praise
wonder how such a 'great' team feel to spend four season with no silverware
who exactlya re arsenal serving as feeder club to?
great to read about these scouts who play such a huge role in the club. thanks!!
great to read about these scouts who play such a huge role in the club. thanks!!
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.
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