Arsenal have been rocked by the sudden resignation of sporting director Edu Gaspar, who was in charge of signing new players.
The Brazilian is set to take up a new role working for Evangelos Marinakis across the Greek businessman’s three clubs; Nottingham Forest, Olympiacos and Rio Ave.
It’s an odd, unexpected move, but the 46-year-old is reportedly going to receive a far bigger pay packet in his new job, so I guess he just really wanted that bag.
It’s a blow for the Gunners, whose recruitment has been impressive since the club’s former midfielder returned initially as a technical director in 2019.
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Arsenal have steadily built a Premier League title-challenging squad over that period, and spent a lot of money doing so. They have signed some top players like Martin Odegaard, unearthed hidden gem William Saliba, and smashed their transfer record for Declan Rice.
There have been some misses in that period too, such as Willian, Nicolas Pepe and Cedric Soares, but on the whole they have done some very good transfer business under Edu.
Arsenal have made 35 signings for roughly £807 million under his watch, which we’ve listed out here. Gabriel Martinelli joined right before Edu did, so he doesn’t feature, while Saliba arrived a fortnight later so we have included him, however small a role the departing director played in his transfer.
Every Arsenal signing by Edu as sporting director resigns
2019/20
- Nicolas Pepe – £72m
- William Saliba – £27m
- Kieran Tierney – £24.3m
- Pablo Mari – £5.4m + £7.2m loan fee
- David Luiz – £7.8m
- Dani Ceballos – Loan
- Cedric Soares – Loan/Free
2020/21
- Thomas Partey – £45m
- Martin Odegaard – £31.5m + £1.8m loan fee
- Gabriel Magalhaes – £23.4m
- Alex Runarsson – £1.8m
- Willian – Free
- Mat Ryan – Loan
2021/22
- Ben White – £52m
- Aaron Ramsdale – £25m
- Takehiro Tomiyasu – £16.7m
- Albert Sambi Lokonga – £15.75m
- Nuno Tavares – £7m
- Auston Trusty – £1.6m
2022/23
- Gabriel Jesus – £45.5m
- Fabio Vieira – £30.4m
- Oleksandr Zinchenko – £30.4m
- Jakub Kiwior – £22.3m
- Leandro Trossard – £21.4m
- Jorginho – £10m
- Matt Turner – £5.7m
- Marquinhos – £2.6m
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2023/24
- Declan Rice – £101m
- Kai Havertz – £64.8m
- Jurrien Timber – £34.6m
- David Raya – £27m + £3m loan fee
2024/25
- Riccardo Calafiori – £42m
- Mikel Merino – £31.6m
- Raheem Sterling – Loan
- Neto – Loan
How would you rate the signings made by Edu at Arsenal? Let us know in the comments below!
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