Technical Director Ellis leaving Arsenal after five years

The role of Technical Director tends to differ from club to club in England. Describing his role on LinkedIn, Ellis had explained that Arsenal’s technical department “underpins the club’s sustainability and creates asset value for the external market through investment in the development of homegrown talent.”

Ellis had played a key role in 16-year-old Max Dowman committing his long-term future to the club at the start of the year. News of his exit has come as a shock and the club has not given an official reason, although the decision will have ultimately been made by football leadership trio Mikel Arteta, Sporting Director Andrea Berta and CEO Richard Garlick.

There has been significant change behind the scenes at Arsenal in the last 12 months. Italian  Berta joined the club in March 2025 after 12 years in Spain and has focused primarily on first-team recruitment, whereas his predecessor Edu had a wider remit.

Maurizio Micheli arrived from Napoli at the end of last year to support Berta as Head of Scouting.

Assistant Technical Director Jason Ayto left in September to become Sporting Director at Brighton,  while it has been announced that Academy Director Per Mertesacker will leave at the end of this season after eight years.

Before joining Arsenal Ellis was First Team Scout at Ostersunds in Sweden for seven-and-a-half years, where he worked with Graham Potter and helped the club climb from the fourth tier to the top flight and European football.