Arsenal Overhauls Medical and Performance Department Ahead of Premier League Title Challenge
Mikel Arteta has lifted the lid on why Arsenal have ripped up and rebuilt a key part of their off-pitch operation ahead of another tilt at the Premier League title.
The club have overhauled their medical and performance department this summer, a response to a series of injury-hit run-ins that have repeatedly undermined Arsenal’s momentum under the Spaniard.
Arteta has long hammered home one message: if Arsenal want to go the distance, their best players have to be available when it matters most. Too often, they haven’t been. Bukayo Saka, William Saliba and Kai Havertz are among those to have missed extended spells at crucial points in recent seasons, and the frustration has been obvious.
This time, the club have chosen not to simply hope for better luck. They have changed the people in charge of keeping players fit.
Shortly after the Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, head of sports medicine Dr Zafar Iqbal was sacked. Tom Allen, the club’s head of sports science and performance, then left his role. Lead performance coach Sam Wilson followed at the end of June, another significant departure in a summer of quiet but major internal shifts.
Those exits were not impulsive. Arsenal had conducted a review of their medical department last season, with Arteta’s long-term friend Joaquin Acedo brought in to play a central role in assessing what needed to change.
Arteta was keen to stress his respect for those who have gone, but he made it equally clear that sentiment could not stand in the way of progress.
“First of all thank you to them for all the incredible work they have done for the club, for the players, for myself – and how well they have taken us and we will look to improve and evolve in certain areas,” he said.
“We need to look across the club and we have made certain decisions that in our opinion will help us in medium and long term to be better.
“They are always difficult when you talk about people and you get such a strong relationship. It is always very, very tough."
Tough, but decisive. Arsenal have already moved to reshape the department in their manager’s image.
Eneko Angulo has arrived after leaving his role as head of rehabilitation at Real Betis, tasked with helping reduce those damaging absences that have stalked recent title bids.
Arnaldo Abrantes has been appointed as head doctor following his departure from Aston Villa, and his profile is strikingly different to the traditional club medic. Abrantes is a former professional sprinter who represented Portugal at the 2008 Olympics, a background Arteta believes can give Arsenal an edge in the small details that separate champions from nearly-men.
Arteta likes that blend of science and lived experience.
“He was a good athlete,” the Arsenal manager said. “When we're trying to evolve the squad, the team and the relationships and where the game is evolving, we wanted to recruit different qualities.
“That's one, when you've been there and sensed things in a different way. But as well because of his background, his knowledge about a lot of things that I was very interested in.
“We believe he was the right fit. I'm very happy with what he's bringing."
Arsenal have spent heavily and boldly on the pitch under Arteta. This summer, the real gamble may be that their biggest step towards a title defence comes from a department most supporters never see.
