During this November international break, Arsenal’s football leadership team are flying to America to meet with their owners and discuss plans for 2025. After the resignation of Edu, a conversation about his replacement is likely to be top of the agenda.
Before the club’s football committee decide who should succeed the Brazilian as sporting director, they must first work out what they want that role to entail.
Sporting director is, by its nature, a broad position in which practitioners with varying specialisms can excel. Some are experts at talent identification, be that through traditional scouting or data analytics. Others are technically minded, spending their time on the training pitch, in close contact with the manager and coaching staff. Some are executives, some ex-players, some steely negotiators and others focused on building relationships. Arsenal must determine what blend will most complement manager Mikel Arteta.
And what will their remit be? Having started as technical director in 2019, Edu was promoted to sporting director in 2022 — a position that gave him influence over the academy and women’s team, as well as the men’s first team.
Arsenal may not grant such wide-ranging responsibilities to a new appointment — at least, not at first. They are considering reverting to a model where the sporting director is predominantly focused on the men’s first team. In Per Mertesacker and Clare Wheatley, they have people in place to oversee the academy and women’s team.
The announcement that Real Sociedad’s director of football, Roberto Olabe, is leaving his position at the end of the season will surely have piqued Arsenal’s interest — but Edu has been gone a matter of days. His decision to depart did not come as a total shock but the timing still caught many off-guard.
Arsenal are just beginning the recruitment process for a successor — and are likely to use an external recruitment agency to help identify suitable candidates. At this early stage, we are dealing in speculation.
There may be internal candidates to consider. Edu’s deputy, Jason Ayto, has stepped up on an interim basis. He will be part of those discussions with the Kroenkes about transfer plans for January and beyond. When Edu decided to leave, he reasoned that he had built an infrastructure strong enough to withstand his departure. Edu has worked closely with Ayto for five years, and has sought to prepare him for a role as a sporting director in future. If Arsenal want continuity, Ayto appears a sensible choice.
While he will be given a chance to stake his claim, some sources (who, like others in this piece, wished to remain anonymous to protect relationships) suggest this position may come a little too soon for him. He has only been in his role as the club’s assistant sporting director for around a year and a half. Arsenal are in a ‘win-now’ phase and may prefer a candidate with more experience.
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Another internal name to consider may be Mertesacker. The former club captain transitioned straight from his playing days into a position as academy manager, and has been in the role since 2018. During that time, he has been linked with football executive positions at the German Football Association (DFB) and several Bundesliga clubs. He is well-regarded at Arsenal and has an excellent relationship with Arteta, having first joined the club on the same day in August 2011.
Is a deep affiliation for Arsenal an important criterion for any incoming sporting director? Edu was another former Arsenal player — an ‘Invincible‘, no less. When he arrived in 2019, Arsenal had not long since lost manager Arsene Wenger. Whether by accident or design, the appointments of Edu, Mertesacker and Arteta helped create a through line in the club’s identity.
Arsenal are a different club now and appear to have navigated the choppiest waters of the post-Arsene Wenger transition. A history with Arsenal is not essential.
There are candidates out there who have a deep connection to the club. Tomas Rosicky, once a team-mate of Arteta and Mertesacker, has spent the past six years as the sporting director of Sparta Prague. In 2023, he helped bring the title back to Sparta after a nine-year wait — and they retained it the following season too. In August, Sparta overcame Swedish side Malmo to secure a long-awaited return to the Champions League.
Arsenal are prepared to look domestically and internationally to find the right person. Managing director Richard Garlick’s time as director of football for the Premier League brought him into contact with many club counterparts, and he has a good understanding of potential candidates within the UK.
Timing is critical. Some close to the club have suggested former Arsenal midfielder Richard Hughes might have made for a good choice, had he not left his position as technical director at Bournemouth to become sporting director at Liverpool this year. Dan Ashworth, who worked closely with Garlick at West Bromwich Albion, has joined Manchester United.
Candidates within the Premier League include Phil Giles, whose data-led recruitment at Brentford is held in high regard. He has been discussed at big clubs.
Arsenal will also look further afield. Naturally, given the presence of Arteta, there is likely to be some discussion of candidates working in Spain. The timing of Olabe’s availability as he moves on from Real Sociedad is eye-catching. He speaks reasonable English, and is well-known to Arsenal: they negotiated with him over deals for Mikel Merino, Kieran Tierney and Nacho Monreal.
Olabe insists his announcement is not connected to a new opportunity. “I’m still excited and motivated to finish this season here,” he explained. “After? I need to listen to other conversations in other environments to reconnect. I don’t know what my future will be. There is no date — nothing external to fix the timing of this decision.”
Andrea Berta’s future at Atletico Madrid appears somewhat uncertain, while Braulio Vazquez of Osasuna — fifth in La Liga — has won plaudits for his part in their transformation.
In the Bundesliga, Simon Rolfes of Bayer Leverkusen and Markus Krosche of Eintracht Frankfurt are both likely to figure in Arsenal’s conversations. At Leverkusen, Rolfes works alongside Arteta’s good friend Xabi Alonso — the Arsenal manager will not find it hard to come by a reference.
Thiago Scuro of Monaco has also been linked but there has been no formal approach.
The successful candidate will work in tandem with Arteta, rather than above him. That may make some candidates wary: the more experienced a sporting director is, the more autonomy and scope they will want.
The key thing for Arsenal is that there is no rush. The structure Edu left behind, and Ayto stepping into the breach, buys them time. The preparation work for the forthcoming transfer windows has been done. Edu is on six months of gardening leave — that length of notice period is not unusual for a sporting director.
For many, the Brazilian’s departure felt very sudden. Replacing him may be a more protracted process. It is a critically important appointment for Arsenal — and one they are likely to take their time with.
(Top photo: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
