May 23, 2025Updated 1:22 pm EDT
Arsenal’s assistant sporting director Jason Ayto has left the club.
Ayto was promoted to the sporting director role on an interim basis after Edu Gaspar resigned from his position in November, having previously been the Brazilian’s assistant.
Ayto was a strong candidate in the process to be appointed to the role on a permanent basis but, in March, Arsenal appointed Andrea Berta to be Edu’s successor.
A former scout, Ayto had been with Arsenal for a decade and rose through the ranks to become Edu’s right-hand man, leading an overhaul and modernisation of the club’s recruitment department.
He will now serve a period of gardening leave and will leave the club in order to further his career and pursue other opportunities.
When Edu was promoted to become Arsenal’s first-ever sporting director in November 2022, he asked for Ayto to be appointed assistant sporting director.
The 39-year-old served an expansive apprenticeship under Edu, working across the men’s first team, women’s team and academy. He led the co-ordination of scouting and recruitment, and as time went by has been increasingly involved in negotiations over transfers and contracts. In the summer of 2024, he was heavily involved in discussions over the signings of both Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino.
When Edu departed, Ayto stepped up as interim sporting director and was part of Arsenal’s football leadership team which flew to Los Angeles during the November international break for strategic discussions with the Kroenkes. Since then, he had taken up the baton in talks over the potential signing of Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi.
He also led Arsenal’s search for a striker in January but ultimately was part of the club’s decision to abstain from the market that month.
Manager Mikel Arteta has talked up Ayto’s abilities. Speaking in November, he said: “Very good, Jason and all the team. Edu and I probably got a lot of the praise, but the work behind it is done by this guy and Jason has been phenomenal.
“It is not easy to wake up one day and having to move to a different office and do a different job, like it was for the team.
“But again, the spirit, how people react, how they are willing to (say): ‘Okay, that’s it, that’s the situation, let’s move forward’, with that ambition, and as well with that determination and that enthusiasm, that’s something great. Jason has been great on that.”
(David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
James McNicholas has covered Arsenal extensively for more than a decade. He has written for ESPN, Bleacher Report and FourFourTwo Magazine, and is the co-host of the Arsecast Extra Podcast. Follow James on Twitter @gunnerblog
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