TA: Arsenal interim sports director Aito leaves office, Berta takes office

May 24th According to TheAhtletic, Arsenal's interim sports director left office and Belta officially took office.

Arsenal's assistant sports director Jason Eto has left office, after he was Edu's assistant, who served as interim as athletic director after Edu left in November last year. Aito was a strong contender for this position and is expected to become a regular player, but in March this year, Arsenal officially appointed Berta as sports director.

Eto is a former scout who has played for ten years at Arsenal, promoted from the grassroots level to Edu's right-hand man, leading the restructuring and modernization of the club's recruitment department. At present, Aito will take a ‘horticultural leave’, which is the paid leave before leaving the job, and then officially leave the club to seek new opportunities for career development. After Edu was appointed as the first sports director in Arsenal's history in November 2022, he asked to promote Eto as deputy director. Aito, 39, has received all-round training under Edu and is involved in the first team, women's football and youth training systems. Aito started out coordinating scouts and signings, and over time he also played an increasingly important role in transfer negotiations and contract affairs. In the summer of 2024, Aito was deeply involved in the transfer negotiations to introduce Calafiori and Merino.

After Edu left office, Eto, who temporarily took over as sports director, became a member of Arsenal's senior management. He once went to Los Angeles to meet with the Kroenke family and also led the negotiations to introduce Zubimendi. In addition, during the transfer window in January this year, Aito also led Arsenal's job in finding a new striker, but the club eventually decided not to sign in the winter window.

Arsenal coach Arteta highly praised Aito's work ability in an interview in November last year. He said: "It's excellent, Aito and the entire team did a great job. Maybe the outside world gave most of the praise to me and Edu, but in fact, the team that really put in the effort behind the scenes is this team, especially Aito, who performed very well."

"Since I woke up one morning and suddenly moved to another office and did a completely different job, it was not easy for the entire team."

"But that attitude, reaction, and the 'well, this is reality, let's move on' after facing reality are really valuable, and Aito has shown great results in this regard."