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Marc Overmars wants to become technical director at Arsenal.

The former Gunners player, who won the Premier League and FA Cup double with the north London club in 1998, is currently director of football at Ajax.

And the 45-year-old is doing an impressive job, with the Dutch giants enjoying a fine season - having just knocked Real Madrid out of the Champions League to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 2003.

Overmars has received plenty of credit for some of the business Ajax have done with him at the helm, with Frankie de Jong having just been sold to Barcelona for £65 million just four years after arriving from Willem II for just £800,000.

And it’s clever business like that has seen Overmars build a good reputation while at the Ajax Arena and Arsenal have been keeping close tabs on his progress.

Head of football at the Emirates, Raul Sanllehi, is leading a search for a new technical director and it had looked like Monchi would be arriving to take on the role in north London.

(Image: CRISTINA QUICLER/AFP/Getty Images)

But the 50-year-old Spaniard, who has just left Roma, has decided to return to Sevilla - where he had been director of football until 2017 when he left for the Italian capital.

Monchi’s decision to turn down the offer of a three-year deal at Arsenal means Sanllehi will have to turn his attention elsewhere, with Overmars a leading contender.

And football.london has learnt that the Dutchman wants a move to the Emirates and leading club officials at Ajax are aware of his desire to return to north London.

Ajax would not entertain Overmars leaving before the end of the season, however, and even in the summer they would be reluctant to let their director of football leave.

But the Dutch giants are aware they would struggle to keep their man away from Arsenal, given the financial clout that the Premier League side posseses.

Should Arsenal push through a move for Overmars it would be highly like that they also appoint a new head of recruitment.

That role has been vacant since Sven Mislintat’s departure - with the club waiting to decide on whether they need to bring in a replacement for the German.

That is because whoever comes in as technical director, depending on his skill set, could decide to take the lead role in terms of the club’s scouting network, making the head of recruitment role effectively redundant.

But at Ajax, Overmars predominantly looks after the business side of things, while recruitment is left to chief scout Henk Veltmate.

Current head of international recruitment Francis Cagigao at Arsenal is the leading candidate to replace Mislinat, should the north London club decide to fill the role.

Cagigao is highly respected within the club having served as a youth player during the 1980s before returning as a scout more than a decade ago and working closely with Arsene Wenger.

He predominantly scouted in Spain and was the man who first spotted Cesc Fabregas, leading to the midfielder’s move from Barcelona to Arsenal.

Cagigao also has extensive contacts in south America and many at the club believe he would be the prefect replacement for Mislintat to head up the vast scouting and recruitment network across the globe.

The 49-year-old has been leading the scouting network at Arsenal since Mislintat’s departure.

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