Arsenal suffered a gutting 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United in the Premier League at the weekend and are now seven points adrift of the top of the table. Amid this shaky period, the Gunners have received another blow with some surprising news from sporting director Edu Gaspar.
Arsenal Set To Lose Sporting Director Edu Gaspar
Where Might Edu Be Headed After Leaving Arsenal?
Sky Sports have reported that Gaspar has decided to depart Arsenal and vacate his position as the sporting director. It’s also stated that there is still uncertainty over exactly why the Brazilian opted to leave the Gunners after spending the last few years working alongside Mikel Arteta building up a title-challenging squad.
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It’s added that this decision has taken the club by surprise as it comes out of the blue. Sky Sports also claims that he is attracting interest to potentially take over a role in the group of clubs owned by Greek businessman Evangelos Marinakis, which includes Nottingham Forest. However, they also notethat there is no guarantee that the Brazilian director will actually agree to take up a role with them.
Fabrizio Romano has reported that Marinakis has always held Gaspar as a top target to act as a coordinator for his group of clubs. It’s also being reported that Arsenal will take Arteta’s opinion into consideration when deciding to select a replacement for Edu in the sporting director spot.
What Impact Did Edu Make As Arsenal Sporting Director?
Gaspar is a former Arsenal player who joined the club as a technical director in 2019. He has had a major influence over their transfer policy and business over the last five years, which includes signing and offloading players. He was responsible for Arsenal signing players like Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice, and Kai Havertz, with the Gunners having spent £858 million on signings since he joined in as technical director.
The Brazilian, who became Arsenal’s first-ever sporting director in 2022, also played a key role in offloading players like Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to help stabilize their wage bill. He has grown very close to Arteta, who will definitely be impacted by losing a trusted friend and advisor at the upper management level once his departure is confirmed.
