Arsenal blocked from approaching Marc Overmars for technical director | OneFootball

Ajax reportedly blocked Marc Overmars from a potential return to Arsenal as technical director.

Arsenal are pursuing options to fill the vacancy as quickly as possible following the departure of their head of recruitment Sven Mislintat this month.

Ajax have apparently ruled out an exit for Overmars because of his importance to their club at the moment.

The Amsterdam club have been known for developing talent in the past but Overmars has overseen some financially advantageous player sales in his capacity, including the departure of Frenkie de Jong to Barcelona for about €75m.

Overmars spent three season in north London as a player, where he won the Premier League and FA Cup double in 1997-98.

After that success, the Dutchman kept up relations with the Gunners and the club have kept tabs on his work post-retirement.

The Mirror report that that Eredivisie powerhouse will reject any monetary advances for Overmars due to the returns he has earned for the club.

Those profitable player sales include: €35m for Arkadiusz Milik to Napoli in August 2016, €27m for Davy Klaassen to Everton in July 2017, and €46m for Davinson Sánchez to Tottenham Hotspur in August 2017.

The unwillingness of Ajax to make him available helped push Arsenal towards deciding on Roma’s director of football Monchi.

While the former Netherlands winger had personal connections with the club, Monchi has history with Gunners boss Unai Emery at Sevilla.