The Chilean sports media is full of mentions of Arsenal FC today, and it’s not only due to the tough situation the Gunners have been in.
The noise is because Francis Cagigao, who’s worked at the Premier League side for several years, has now accepted an invitation to join the Chilean national team in an administrative role.
La Tercera is the outlet who broke the news today, featuring a big interview with him. They highlight the fact that he was responsible for the Arsenal signings of José Antonio Reyes, Alexis Sanchez, Robin van Persie and Cesc Fabregas.
His job with the Gunners is described as a ‘talent hunter’, even though he had already spent some time at the club before that.
“I started to be a footballer at Arsenal, when I was young, I went to Barcelona B, Racing Santander. I had some pretty serious injuries. I represented Spain in the U19 and U20 levels . It can be said that after a very brilliant start, I had rather a mediocre professional career,” Francis Caggio told La Tercera.
Asked if he was responsible for Alexis Sanchez’s arrival at Arsenal, Cagigao didn’t want to take all the credit for it.
“Football clubs are the ones that sign footballers. Individuals don’t sign players, but if the question is who recommends it, then yes. He began to draw my attention in the South American of Paraguay. Good guy.
“I’ve followed his career from the beginning. He was always a very appealing player, I liked him a lot, Arséne liked him, I spoke very often with him about Alexis. In the end we managed to sign him and he became a very important player at Arsenal.”
Cagigao is joining Chile as a ‘national team chief’ on a two-year contract, and will be working to make them strong for the 2022 World Cup.
