Arsenal board are looking to probe the signing of Ex-Lille star, Nicolas Pepe last summer for a club-record fee of £72mllion.
According to reports, Technical Director, Edu is leading the investigation to the signing of Nicolas Pepe, who somehow, has failed to impress despite coming in for that huge sum.
The winger arrived at the Emirates Stadium with big expectations after the Gunners parted with the eye-watering sum – a club-record fee – for his signature, but he struggled at the start of the campaign.
Officials, led by technical director Edu, are now looking to determine whether they overspent on the Ivory Coast star as they ramp up plans to improve their transfer operations in a bid to avoid making the same mistakes, according to ESPN.
A number of scouts have left the club, including Francis Cagigao, Brian McDermott and Brian Clark, with the north Londoners being forced to let staff go amid financial difficulties posed by the coronavirus pandemic, Dailymail reports.
There is no feeling of regret at bringing Pepe to the club, the report adds, but Arsenal are seeking to find out why they committed to splashing out so much when the hierarchy have been renowned for tight control over finances.
Unai Emery, who was at the helm at the time of Pepe’s arrival, wanted to sign Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha instead but was overruled by head of football Raul Sanllehi.
The 25-year-old had a huge list of suitors last year after sparkling 2018-19 campaign that saw him score 23 goals from midfield, but it’s believed many of those interested parties were left staggered by the amount Arsenal ended up paying for him.
It comes after agent Kia Joorabchian slammed the club’s former chief scout Sven Mislintat, claiming he made a number of ‘cock-ups’ with new signings.
‘People forget about the previous guy, Sven,’ Joorabchian said.
‘He made a bunch of, I don’t like to use the word, but, cock-ups with players he brought in at very, very large numbers.’
Joorabchian is known to have close relationships with several members of Arsenal’s hierarchy, most notably with the head of football Raul Sanllehi and technical director Edu, who have helped bring in a number of big signings in the past year.
The 49-year-old is the agent of two Gunners stars, David Luiz and Cedric Soares, who joined in the past year, while another, Willian, completed his switch on Friday.
Joorabchian has often been spotted in one of the directors’ boxes at the Emirates in recent months and has often spoken out on the club’s transfer policy.
Arsenal have come under pressure after their decision to make 55 members of staff redundant amid issues around COVID-19, but have signed former Chelsea star Willian on wages of around £220,000 per week, while star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is also being lined up for a major new deal.
As a result, the Gunners will be keen to ensure they limit their spending elsewhere and protect their funds during an uncertain period.