London, Nov 29 (IANS): Former Barcelona officer Raul Sanllehi has joined Arsenal as the head of football relations, the English Premier League (EPL) club confirmed.

"Raul has been at Barcelona for the past 14 years. He will join us in February to lead future player negotiations and work alongside manager Arsène Wenger, chief executive Ivan Gazidis and contract negotiator Huss Fahmy," the London-club said in a statement on Tuesday.

"He will also represent and support the club with international and domestic governing bodies," the statement added.

Ivan Gazidis, Chief Executive of Arsenal said: "In the past three years we have supplemented our team with more top-class expertise across every aspect of our football operations.

"Raul's appointment is another important step in developing the infrastructure we need at the club to take everything we do to the next level. Raul has extensive contacts across the football world and has been directly involved in some of the biggest transfers in Europe in recent years. We look forward to him bringing that expertise to Arsenal."