BBC Sport have revealed that James Ellis will leave his role as Technical Director at Arsenal.
Ellis was promoted to the position from Head of Recruitment in June last year, just a couple of months after Andrea Berta joined as Sporting Director.
His role predominantly focused on the Arsenal Academy, as part of a department responsible for long-term player development, pathways into the first team, and the creation of “asset value for the external market”.
Ellis had previously held roles at Kettering, Birmingham City, the University of Warwick and Ostersunds before becoming a scout for the Gunners in 2021, reporting into Edu Gaspar as part of the club’s football intelligence team.
His departure comes six weeks after Arsenal confirmed Per Mertesacker will step down as Academy Manager at the end of the season.
While the club have maintained the decision was taken by the German, there had been suggestions Ellis wanted to revamp aspects of how the academy functioned and was set to lead the search for a successor.
That he is now leaving the club so abruptly comes as a surprise, although The Athletic suggests it’s “an indication that Arsenal now see the position as superfluous.”