Andrea Berta enjoyed an impressive summer during his first transfer window as Sporting Director at Arsenal.

The Italian oversaw several headline additions such as the £64m signing of Viktor Gyokeres and a £68m deal for Eberechi Eze to significantly strengthen the squad for Mikel Arteta.

  • Piero Hincapie
  • Eberechi Eze
  • Martin Zubimendi
  • Noni Madueke
  • Kepa Arrizabalaga
  • Cristhian Mosquera
  • Christian Norgaard
  • Viktor Gyokeres

However, decision makers at Arsenal actually gave serious consideration to hiring Jason Ayto before Andrea Berta – as Tony Bloom has now revealed.

Click to subscribe to the podcast Tony Bloom admits Arsenal were “very, very close” to hiring Jason Ayto

Speaking on the Official Brighton & Hove Albion FC YouTube channel, the Seagulls chairman revealed just how close Arsenal came to appointing the 40-year-old as their Sporting Director.

Bloom – who has since hired Ayto himself – said: “Jason’s been in football for a long time. He’s been at Arsenal for a very long time. He had the interim Sporting Director role for nine months and did a really, really good job.

“He got very, very close to getting the full-time Sporting Director role at Arsenal. He has just got the skillset, we believe, in many, many different areas.”

“He’s seen (while) working for Edu at Arsenal how things work there. He can bring so many different experiences. He’s a great man manager working in different areas. In a sporting context, a football club takes a lot of different skills, and we believe that Jason has started really well. He’s only been with us for a few weeks.”

Jason Ayto left Arsenal with a fantastic parting gift

In his nine months as interim Sporting Director at Arsenal, the Englishman worked hard on a significant signing.

The Telegraph claim Ayto played a key role in luring Zubimendi to north London from Real Sociedad, lining up a double deal across two summer windows, signing Mikel Merino from the Spanish side first.

Zubimendi has since shone for Arsenal – even receiving a nomination for the Premier League Player of the Month award in September.

Merino has also been a useful player for Arteta, scoring against Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final last season while offering cover in both central midfield and at striker.

Ayto clearly helped to deliver some crucial signings for the Gunners, which bodes very well for Brighton.