“I loved it at Arsenal. You cannot imagine — the people in the club, the history of the club,” Raul Sanllehi says.
“I really felt I was at the top of the world there. The Kroenkes, my owners, are wonderful. However, the last 10 month were terrible. I had to lay off 55 people, without knowing I was the 56th.”
Sanllehi speaks to The Athletic at Real Zaragoza, his new club. Spain’s second division, whom he joined as director general last June. A group of owners hired him. MLSJorge Mas, President of Inter Miami and Atletico Madrid directors. France’s Lens and Colombian club Millonarios.
All that will be discussed soon. But first, Sanllehi wants it to be clear that there are no hard feelings regarding his Arsenal exit, even though it was a surprise at the time.
“I don’t feel betrayed by the Kroenkes,” he says. “The Kroenkes had the LA Rams, Denver Nuggets, Colorado Rapids, and all of a sudden, all those teams could not play (due to lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic).
“You still had to pay the salaries. There was no guarantee of broadcasting revenues. They were not in panic, but they experienced a logical panic as the world was panicking. My relationship with the Kroenkes and COVID was so great that I’m certain I would still be there without it.
“It is funny now, but I remember in December 2019, I had dinner with the four guys: (Arsenal’s then newly-appointed head coach) Mikel Arteta, (technical director) Edu, (head of football operations) Huss Fahmy and (academy manager) Per Mertesacker.
