Arsenal have been left reeling after long-serving club doctor Gary O’Driscoll informed the Gunners’ hierarchy he has decided to take up a job at , according to reports.
The 52-year-old, who has been at the north London club since 2009, has become a key figure behind-the-scenes in his role as head of medical services.
He featured prominently in Amazon Prime’s All or Nothing documentary about the club and frequently appears in new signing videos as he puts players through their medicals.
O’Driscoll has been an important part of Mikel Arteta’s staff and is part of the Spaniard’s inner circle, while he was .
The Merseysiders, who were then fighting for titles, were in need of a new head of their medical department and O’Driscoll had agreed to take over, only for Arteta to convince him to stay at Arsenal.
He has had no such luck this time around, however, with reporting that O’Driscoll will move to Old Trafford later this summer.
He has agreed to stay for a ‘transition period’ in which he will help integrate a successor and the parting of ways is described as amicable.
Nevertheless, O’Driscoll’s departure is a huge blow to Arsenal and has come as a big surprise to the squad.
The Englishman is an extremely popular presence around London Colney and has been at the club longer than any of the current first-team squad.
O’Driscoll had not been seeking an exit, but was won over by an approach from United which allows him to move closer to his family in the north-west.
United have been looking for a new head of their medical department since Steve McNally left in December of last year and interim replacement Jim Moxon is expected to remain part of the set-up under O’Driscoll.
He is not the only high-profile departure from the Arsenal backroom team this summer, with assistant coach Steve Round’s exit confirmed on Thursday.
The former Everton coach joined when Arteta first took over and was described as having played an ‘integral role’ by sporting director Edu as his departure was confirmed, with some reports suggesting he will now join old boss David Moyes at West Ham.
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