Athletic: The first black mark against Sanllehi came in April 2019, when he led high-level discussions about extending Emery’s contract without first receiving approval from owners Kroenke Sports & Entertainment (KSE)

The Athletic understands that in recent months, a member of the board sought to have a one-to-one meeting with head coach Mikel Arteta, only to be informed the meeting could only take place in Sanllehi’s presence

Sanllehi opposed the proposal to add David O’Leary to the board to provide football oversight

Sanllehi came from a world where jostling for power is simply part of the game. However, that style of management did not always sit right at Arsenal

Both the scouting and analytics department felt sidelined as Sanllehi collaborated with a trusted network of intermediaries

The Athletic understands Arsenal exceeded the asking price for Bernd Leno and paid €5 million above the buyout clause for Lucas Torreira

In 2018 Nicolas Pepe was available for less than half what Arsenal ultimately agreed to pay Lille

In Spain, that kind of fraternisation with intermediaries is more accepted. At Arsenal, however, some found it deeply uncomfortable.

At the time of the golden era of Wenger and their last title win, David Dein effectively did the job that more recently was shared out between three senior employees — Sanllehi, Edu and Fahmy

Sources close to the Arsenal board said there was “no chance” this change would have taken place without the influence of Tim Lewis

A lifelong Arsenal fan, Lewis is a partner at London-based law firm Clifford Chance. He is regarded as one of the leading mergers and acquisitions lawyers in the world and spent four years advising Kroenke on his investment into Arsenal, from his initial share purchase.

Lewis was also tasked with helping oversee an audit of Arsenal’s spending across all departments — a process that contributed directly to the redundancies Arsenal have announced.

Edu will continue the Gabriel talks, his representatives at Elenko Sport are likely to be known to Edu given his extensive connections in Brazil.

Some are worried about Kias presence post Raul

. As one source close to the club pointedly put it, albeit tongue in cheek: “Batman is gone but Robin is still there.”

Venkatesham has steadily progressed up the ladder in the decade he has spent at Arsenal and is a very popular and respected figure

Arsenal have concluded that one leader means more coherence and efficiency