
It has been almost three weeks since Arsenal announced the departure of their chief executive Ivan Gazidis to AC Milan, which will be completed by December 2018. Having already appointed Raul Sanllehi as head of football and Vinai Venkatesham as managing director, it seems like the club will neither appoint someone from outside nor promote someone from the hierarchy to replace Gazidis as the CEO.
Yet, the Gunners are being linked to a number of candidates from the football fraternity for the vacant chief executive position. Amongst the names is the experienced and outgoing Juventus CEO Giuseppe ‘Beppe’ Marotta, who recently stepped down from his job with the Serie A champions.
#Arsenal reportedly offer outgoing #Juventus general manager Beppe Marotta a €3.5m salary to become their new CEO https://t.co/v9gbBuNCLv #AFC #ARS #FCIM pic.twitter.com/qbb4yRKlCV
— Football Italia (@footballitalia) October 5, 2018
Arsenal have presented a €3.5m a year proposal to Beppe Marotta, report Tuttosport. https://t.co/4mrevhMn7B #afc pic.twitter.com/aw6vuRQafi
— Sport Witness (@Sport_Witness) October 4, 2018
According to the Italian publication Tuttosport (h/t Calciomercato), the Emirates-based club have offered the 61-year-old a contract worth €3.5 million per year. However, Marotta wants to stay in Italy, and not leave soon. It is believed that he will officially exit Juventus on 25th October, announcing his exit last Saturday after the win against arch-rivals Napoli.
New: Arsenal not looking for a CEO despite Marotta links https://t.co/qkiUi1V5TE #arsenal #afc pic.twitter.com/jmJ9XRfMgj
— arseblognews (@arseblognews) October 5, 2018
Marotta joined the Old Lady in 2010. During his tenure, the Bianconeri won seven successive Serie A titles and four consecutive Coppa Italia, while they also reached the final of the UEFA Champions League twice in three years. The 63-year-old played a key role in Juve’s transfer policy. Despite having a tight budget during his tenure, he helped the club sign the likes of Arturo Vidal, Andrea Pirlo, Paul Pogba, Gonzalo Higuain, as well as Cristiano Ronaldo over the years. Recently, Marotta was voted as the Best Executive at the World Football Summit, being recognized for his work with Juve.
👏👏👏 Congratulations to Giuseppe Marotta, voted Best Executive at the @WFootballsummit ➡️ https://t.co/JYUQ3Z62Hb #WFS18 #ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/Htgw419pZg
— JuventusFC 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@juventusfcen) September 24, 2018
Since announcing his exit, Marotta has been linked with a number of Italian and European clubs, which includes Arsenal as well as their league rivals Manchester United. However, if several reports in Italy are to be believed, Inter Milan are the front runners to secure the signature of Beppe Marotta.
Tuttosport: Marotta is tempted by #AFC’s €3.5m pa offer but he is almost certainly joining Inter. Full story.https://t.co/0UmroSNWHx
— Arsènic™ (@MrArsenicTM) October 4, 2018
According to reports, Marotta had contacts with Steven Zhang, son of Inter’s major shareholder, after the announcement of his resignation from the Italian champions. It is being speculated that the announcement for the same could be made during the Nerazzurri’s board of directors meeting, on 26th October, one day after he officially exits Juventus.
https://twitter.com/_FedeNerazzurra/status/1047962107717799936
According to Tuttosport, the meeting between Zhang and Marotta took place in Lega Calcio and then continued by phone. Although he was proposed by the FIGC to become president, he still fancies his chances in club football. According to Corriere dello Sport, the Nerazzurri have offered him a contract of €3 million per season, with total freedom of maneuvering. The Inter Milan board is convinced that with Marotta, they can jump back to the top, and compete against Juventus, the club Marotta ‘created’.
To all those who are hoping Marotta signs with their club: you have good reason to want him since he’s a great finance/administrator type, but he’s not a scout or someone focused on finding right players to improve squad- that’s Paratici’s job at Juve
— David Amoyal (@DavidAmoyal) September 30, 2018
With Inter Milan trying their best to lure Marotta to the San Siro, Arsenal’s chances of landing him look very slim, although the Gunners do not seem to lose much on the deal, with them being very well placed after Gazidis’ exit and the club in the safe hands of Sanllehi and Venkatesham in the future.