Latest news with #JasonAyto
New York Times
02-07-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Jason Ayto, Ross Wilson advance in Newcastle sporting director hiring process
Jason Ayto and Ross Wilson have both held follow-up interviews for the vacant sporting director position at Newcastle United. No final decision has been made, but Ayto, the former Arsenal interim sporting director, and Wilson, Nottingham Forest's chief football officer, have advanced through a process which has been expedited due to Paul Mitchell's exit. Advertisement Mitchell left the club on Monday after less than a year in the role, while Darren Eales, Newcastle's CEO, is serving his notice after being diagnosed with blood cancer. Newcastle are in the final stages of appointing a new chief executive, with former Real Madrid executive David Hopkinson among the leading contenders. Before Mitchell departed, interim responsibility for overseeing transfer deals transitioned to Andy Howe — the assistant head of recruitment and the nephew of Eddie Howe, the head coach — and Steve Nickson, the head of recruitment. The pair are working collaboratively to try and sign players from an Eddie Howe-led transfer list of targets, but Newcastle are yet to unveil a senior addition this summer, having missed out on Brighton & Hove Albion's Joao Pedro to Chelsea and with Brentford's Bryan Mbeumo specifying a preference to join Manchester United instead. With the sporting director having already left and Eales to follow, Newcastle lack a stable senior executive structure and are in a state of flux off the field for a second successive summer. Amanda Staveley departed as co-owner last July and the appointment of Mitchell followed, which initially unsettled Howe. Whereas Howe was not informed of Mitchell's arrival until 24 hours before, the head coach has been made aware of developments at certain stages of the process this time. Ideally, Newcastle would prefer to bring in a chief executive before a sporting director but, should they decide upon the right candidate for the latter, those appointments could be reversed. Ayto and Wilson are certainly prominent among the owners' thoughts, having reached the latter stages. A former scout, Ayto had been with Arsenal for a decade and rose through the ranks to become assistant sporting director under Edu, leading an overhaul and modernisation of the club's recruitment department. When the Brazilian left Arsenal in November 2024, Ayto stepped up to become interim sporting director until the appointment of Andrea Berta. He left the club voluntarily at the end of last season. Advertisement Wilson has worked in senior positions at Southampton, Huddersfield Town, Watford, Falkirk and Rangers, who won their first league title for a decade during his tenure, and reached the Europa League final, before joining Forest in April 2023. Last year, before Mitchell was appointed, then-Crystal Palace sporting director Dougie Freedman and current Southampton sporting director Johannes Spors reached the final two for the post at Newcastle. Freedman was subsequently offered the job, but turned Newcastle down, eventually leading to Mitchell's arrival. Newcastle declined to comment on the present ongoing process for hiring a sporting director. (Top photos: Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images, Craig Foy / SNS Group via Getty Images)
Telegraph
01-07-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Newcastle's transfer supremo search intensifies with ex-Arsenal chief a contender
Newcastle United have made Jason Ayto a serious candidate for their sporting director role following his departure from Arsenal at the end of the season. Ayto is seen as a prime contender at St James' Park to replace Paul Mitchell, who left his post after less than a year at the club. Newcastle have been assessing options with Ayto's reputation enhanced after a decade at the Emirates Stadium where he finished as interim sporting director. The 40-year-old worked under ex-Arsenal sporting director Edu before being promoted last season with his departure announced by the club after Andrea Berta's appointment. It is believed that Ayto was in the running for the position himself, with his notable successes including landing Martín Zubimendi from Real Sociedad despite intense competition. His role at Newcastle would be on recruitment of players for Eddie Howe, contracts for existing players and working closely with the manager on long-term strategy for the team. Newcastle have been looking to fill Mitchell's position since his shock departure in May, which came eight months after his criticism of the transfer policy under the previous regime. Howe had played an important role in that previous decision-making process that brought Bruno Guimaraes, Alexander Isak, Nick Pope, Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon to club – but the policy was branded by Mitchell as not 'fit for purpose'. Mitchell's close ally Darren Eales, Newcastle's CEO, is stepping down because of health reasons, which was one of the reasons for his departure. Newcastle have endured a frustrating transfer window so far and have yet to sign a player, with Bryan Mbeumo preferring a move to Manchester United over a switch to St James' Park. The club launched a triple swoop for Joao Pedro, James Trafford and Anthony Elanga but Pedro has opted to join Chelsea. Andy Howe has been working alongside Steve Nickson in their recruitment team. Ayto has experience working with Mikel Arteta and helped shape them into Premier League title contenders, with the relationship with Howe seen as a key factor in the appointment of a new sporting director. He is thought to have other admirers in the Premier League, as well as being in the final reckoning for the Newcastle job.
New York Times
05-06-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Arsenal in advanced talks with Matteo Tognozzi over senior recruitment role
Arsenal are in advanced talks with Matteo Tognozzi over a senior recruitment role. Sporting director Andrea Berta, who joined the Premier League club in March, is hoping to expand the group working closest to him following the departure of predecessor Jason Ayto. Ayto held the role on an interim basis following Edu's exit in November before the club opted for former Atletico Madrid executive Berta on a permanent basis. Advertisement Tognozzi, formerly of Juventus and Granada, could now join in time to assist with Arsenal's summer transfer window, which is expected to busy. Berta moved to Arsenal after 12 years at Atletico Madrid, working alongside Diego Simeone. He first joined the Spanish club's scouting department before climbing the ranks to sporting director in four years. Analysis from James McNicholas Berta was always going to require some support at Arsenal in order to effectively execute his role as sporting director. It was initially thought that might come from Jason Ayto, who had been assistant sporting director under Edu previously. Ayto left his position after more than a decade at the club last month, which effectively created a vacancy. Tognozzi will join Arsenal's existing recruitment set up with Berta as sporting director and James Ellis as head of recruitment. Exactly how that hierarchy is organised remains to be seen. After Berta's arrival and Ayto's departure a degree of change has been expected in Arsenal's recruitment operations, and that trend may well continue across the summer. Analysis by James Horncastle Tognozzi was part of a very talented group of recruiters under Fabio Paratici at Juventus. He helped set up Juventus Next Gen, an Under-23 team Juventus enrolled in Italy's third division to help bridge the gap between youth team and first team football. Many of the players Tognozzi helped identified made the leap. They include Dean Huijsen, Kenan Yildiz, Matias Soule, Samuel Iling Junior. The only one who remains is Yildiz. Although Tognozzi left to pursue a more senior role with Granada in La Liga, his work at Juventus is highly respected. Of the players mentioned only Yildiz remains and he was given the No.10 shirt. The rest were sold for significant money by the successive recruitment department. This has been viewed as short-sighted and is the source of considerable regret. Cristiano Giuntoli was the sporting director who cashed in on them. He reinvested the profits poorly and paid with his job this week. ()
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trusted Arsenal executive decides to leave
Jason Ayto's name rarely made headlines, but inside Arsenal, his influence ran deep. Photo via Getty Images Jason Ayto has left the club, ending a decade-long tenure that saw him rise from scout to interim sporting director. Advertisement His exit, communicated internally on Friday and reported by both the BBC and The Athletic, comes just weeks after the club finalised the appointment of Andrea Berta as permanent successor to Edu Gaspar. It appears to be his decision, leaving to 'further his career and pursue other opportunities'. Ayto, 39, was Edu's 'right-hand man' and was promoted to interim sporting director following Edu's departure in November. According to the reports above, his influence extended across the men's, women's and academy operations, overseeing the coordination of scouting, recruitment strategy, and increasingly, high-level transfer negotiations. Despite being considered a strong candidate to take the job full-time, the club opted to appoint Berta, formerly of Atlético Madrid, in April. Advertisement Ayto will now serve a period of gardening leave before pursuing other opportunities. His fingerprints are on much of Arsenal's recent transfer business. He was instrumental in discussions over deals for Riccardo Calafiori, Mikel Merino, and Martin Zubimendi, the latter expected to arrive from Real Sociedad this summer.
BBC News
23-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Arsenal executive Ayto to leave club
Arsenal assistant sporting director Jason Ayto is leaving the club, BBC Sport well-respected executive has decided to exit the Emirates Stadium ahead of the summer worked under former sporting director Edu and was promoted into the position of interim sporting director after Edu left in Ayto will leave the club in due course. Andrea Berta was appointed as Edu's successor in to follow
