Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger admits he needs to find a new football director sooner rather than later.
Reading's Nicky Hammond - once on the books at Arsenal - is said to have been high on the short-list, but is now expected to remain at the Madejski Stadium.
Wenger knows it will not be a straightforward process.
"It is difficult to find somebody now who is in between the board and me and is in the right position," he said recently.
"When I work with Ken Friar I know I speak to the board. I say 'okay let's do it and let's finish it with the lawyers' and he does that.
"If we have someone in between the board and me he needs then to report to me again and then the board, so it becomes a little bit complicated.
"The way to work until now was always directly me and the board and I have to find a way to get around that."