Arsenal sporting director Edu is to leave his role at the club in a surprise move.
Edu has been a key ally for Mikel Arteta in helping him build a Premier League title-chasing squad, but has now decided to take up a new challenge.
Edu is understood to have reached an agreement with Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, overseeing his group of clubs.
The Greek businessman owns Greek side Olympiakos and Portuguese outfit Rio Ave, as well as Forest, who are currently riding high in third in the Premier League table.
In a statement released by Arsenal, Edu said: “This was an incredibly hard decision to make.
“Arsenal has given me the opportunity to work with so many amazing people and the chance to be a part of something so special in the club’s history. It has been a special journey and I thank Stan, Josh, Tim and Lord Harris for the support they’ve given me.
“I’ve loved working with so many great colleagues across our men’s, women’s and academy teams, especially Mikel, who has become a great friend.
“Now it is time to pursue a different challenge. Arsenal will always remain in my heart. I wish the club and its supporters only good things and all the very best.”
Meanwhile, co-chairman Stan Kroenke said: “We respect Edu’s decision and thank him for his immense contribution and dedication to drive the club forward.
“Everyone at the club wishes him well. We are all so fond of him and the positive energy he brings to everything and everyone.
“Change and evolution is a part of our club. We remain focused on our strategy and winning major trophies. Our succession plan will reflect this continued ambition.”
Edu is expected to take on responsibility for growing Marinakis’ collection of clubs and the overall operation.
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Former Arsenal midfielder Edu – a member of the Invincibles squad of 2003/2004 – is considered as one of the top sporting directors in world football right now.
The Brazilian returned to the north London club as technical director in 2019 and alongside Arteta has built the club back into a Premier League force, while they also won the FA Cup in 2020.
Promoted to become their first ever sporting director in 2022, Edu has played a key role in the recruitment of players who have become crucial members of Arteta’s team, including Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice and William Saliba.
The 46-year-old also offloaded a number of players on big wages, such as Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Edu is believed to have been unsettled by recent restructuring in the boardroom and in particular the growing influence of owner Stan Kroenke’s lawyer, Tim Lewis.
Meanwhile, talkSPORT sources say that Arsenal are surprised by the timing of the departure and Edu declined an offer from the club to stay until the summer.
Vinai Venkatesham departed as chief executive at the end of the 2023/24 season, with Richard Garlick taking on the role of managing director.
James King was recently announced as Garlick’s replacement as director of football operations.
Edu’s departure comes following Arsenal’s 1-0 defeat to Newcastle on Saturday, and it is understood to be solely his decision to exit the role.
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The Gunners face Inter Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday and Arteta will be quizzed on the matter when he conducts his press conference on Tuesday.
Edu was pictured alongside Arteta when the club announced he had signed a new long-term contract in September.
Arteta said then of the cohesion at the club: “I feel extremely proud, very excited and am looking forward to what is coming next. I’m proud to be where I am and have the relationships that I have with everyone at the club.
“I feel extremely lucky to work every single day with good people and the ambition we have here. I feel very inspired, I feel challenged, I feel supported and I want to do much more than what we’ve already done together.
“Together with the players and everyone at the club, we are looking forward to the coming years, with our supporters, who have emotionally transformed the club and the team. Our supporters have transformed individuals and we are different now. You can tell that we are different and for me, that is down to them. We look forward to continuing the journey together.”
Now, less than two months on, Edu is on making an exit from the club.
It will end a long association for Edu with Arsenal, with the Brazilian having played for them between 2001 and 2005.
He made 127 appearances, scoring 15 goals, and won two Premier League titles, including the famous Invincibles season of 2003-04 when the team went unbeaten throughout.
Having retired from playing in 2011, he became Corinthians’ director of football before spending three years as the coordinator of the Brazil national team.
He returned to Arsenal as technical director in July 2019 and was part of the decision to axe Unai Emery months later and bring in Arteta.
talkSPORT broke the news of Edu’s departure to his former Arsenal teammate David Seaman.
Reacting to the news, he said: “That’s the first time I’ve heard that and I hope it’s not true. I see Edu when I go in at Arsenal once a week. He’s a great influence at the club, he’s someone you want to keep.
“He’s an ex-double winning teammate of mine and he’s someone you want to keep on, so I really hope it’s not true.”
Meanwhile, Edu’s fellow Invincible Martin Keown reacted, saying: “”He’s a really good man. This will be a loss to the club. There’s no doubt about that. But there is huge stability there already with Tim Lewis on the board.
“Richard Garlick now is someone that really impresses me and of course the manager. But he’s helped to bring a stability to the club, change, the culture’s changed back to what we would have seen in the past. It will affect the players because he’s at the training ground every day. There’s a working relationship.
“The players do have a great deal of respect for him. It’d be hard not to like him. I think in the main the signings have been good. The club’s started to turn around.
“The DNA of the signings now has become very physical, hasn’t it? Less technical. And the club is definitely on the way back. It’s a shock.
But of course it can never be about one person.”
