Arsenal’s loan and transition manager Ben Knapper has left the club to join Norwich City as sporting director. Knapper initially joined Arsenal in 2010 as a football analyst, before quickly becoming a senior football analyst, working closely with Arsène Wenger and Unai Emery during the Gunners’ win won three FA Cups in four years.
In 2019, Knapper was promoted to the newly created position of loan officer before becoming a loan officer and first team scout. Previously in 2023, this role changed to Head of Lending and Forwarding.
In all of these roles, Knapper played a key role in helping some of Hale End’s recent golden generation move from college football to the first team. He also played a key role in helping William Saliba and Folarin Balogun succeed in their loans.
In a message to employees on Friday afternoon, Edu said:
“We are very proud to have Ben appointed as sporting director of Norwich City. Of course, we were all very sad when Ben left us, as he was a top person and professional, and we had a great working relationship together. He has been a huge asset to us throughout his career at Arsenal, where he progressed through our Performance Analysis teams to become the highly successful Pathways and Loans Director. our work.
“Ben has played a key role in the positive development of many of our men’s players over the years, where he has led part of our football strategy to deliver players our best possible experience, to ensure that They come back to us with better improvements. qualities to continue their career with us or elsewhere. We are proud to have given Ben the opportunity to develop his own career and we wish him all the best in his next chapter with Norwich City.
Knapper will officially start with Norwich at the end of next month, working with current sporting director Stuart Webber before Webber left the club. The recruitment process to find his replacement at Arsenal is currently underway.
“I’m really excited to be joining Norwich City,” Knapper told Norwich’s website. “It’s a club I’ve admired for a long time.
“My interactions and relationship with the club over the years have always been very positive. It’s a club that has always had an impact on me and I’m very impressed with how it operates.
“There’s clearly some very good foundations in place. I’m really looking forward to getting started, meeting everyone and contributing to the next successful chapter in the club’s journey.
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