It's time for The Truth!

Today, Sam and Dougie are looking at Arsenal and in particular, a big reshuffle in the boardroom that has seen Andrea Berta succeed Edu Gaspar as their Sporting Director. Berta was formerly at Atletico Madrid, forming a (mostly) impressive team with Diego Simeone, and also previously worked at Genoa and Parma in his native Italy. 

We examine what his record was at Atleti in terms of overseeing signings, discuss which positions and players Arsenal may look to in the summer under his stewardship, and scrutinise how the Manager-SD relationship works at Arsenal in particular with Mikel Arteta. 

There's a little bit of time too to examine the role of a Sporting Director in the modern game, and look at exactly what falls under their remit, before we round things off. 

So, is this the appointment that helps steer Arsenal through that final step where they lift a Premier League trophy? Will he mesh with what Arteta wants and needs on the pitch? Or is this simply background shuffles that bark louder than they actually bite? Well, The Truth is somewhere in the middle...

And remember, if you’d like more from the Rank Squad, including extra podcasts every Monday and Friday (including our weekly Postbox taking a look at the whole weekend of football) and access to our brilliant Discord community, then why not join us here on Patreon?

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