Inside Arsenal legend Edu’s bombshell move from title contenders to madhouse under eccentric and impatient owner

EDU has swapped a Premier League penthouse for a multi-club madhouse.

As Arsenal welcome Nottingham Forest this weekend, the Gunners are still trying to pick up the pieces from the shock departure of their Sporting Director for an expanded role under City Ground owner Evangelos Marinakis.

Edu Gaspar is preparing for his new multi-club role after quitting ArsenalGetty

PAEdu will oversee the stable of clubs owned by Nottingham Forest chief Evangelos Marinakis[/caption]

It has come at a time when the title-chasing North Londoners are at their most stable, consistent and successful on and off the pitch since the glory days of Edu’s own Invincibles side under Arsene Wenger.

A dream job, some would argue.

In comparison, Forest have been leaving a trail of undesirable box office drama behind them for many years now, from VAR squabbles to cigar-spitting accusations, under their eccentric owner Marinakis who is eyeing world domination via his Manchester City-inspired multi-club model.

So, why would Edu risk tainting an impressive dossier of work at Arsenal for an unspecified triple-your-money role with Grecian grouch Marinakis – a man currently at the centre of a blackmail conspiracy in his home country?

The simple answer is: power. Edu is an ambitious Brazilian who quietly eyed a bigger role at the Emirates, and discretely looked elsewhere when it was clear that was unlikely.

Despite several Brazil stars currently in Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta’s squad, Edu’s expertise and knowledge of the country and English football was not solely relied upon with Arteta having a large say in all recruitment dealings.

Under Marinakis, however, he is expected to have greater say as a powerful and extremely well-paid executive over the general running of an empire which so far consists of Forest, Olympiacos and Portuguese side Rio Ave.

Marinakis has also eyed up Serie A’s Monza and is reportedly in talks to add Rio de Janieiro-based Vasco da Gama to his growing portfolio.

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The latter is believed to have been with Edu in mind – a man who has great connections in Brazil from his time as a director of football at Corinthians and general coordinator of the national team before joining Arsenal in July 2019.

But Edu will also be aware that Marinakis is prone to pulling the trigger if expectations are not met.

Marinakis’ erratic trial and error process for this role began with Spaniard Antonio Cordon in June 2023 after his past success with Villarreal and Real Betis.

Cordon was initially the Olympiacos Sporting Director before Marinakis promoted him to also cover Forest and Rio Ave six months later. Cordon left the role in July 2024.

In the middle of all this, Portuguese Sporting Director Pedro Alves was given the Olympiacos gig in December 2023, but lasted just two months.

One of Edu’s great strengths is his ability to control communications from top to bottom, something Arsenal chiefs are understood to be aware of replacing sooner rather than later.

But Edu knows he will be dealing with quite the character in Marinakis, one who has been known to smash TVs in director’s boxes in anger at the City Ground, and played his part in the club being fined £750k last term for green-lighting a tweet that accused referee Stuart Atwell of bias.

He then was hit with a five-game ban last month for spitting at the feet of an official, his defence being that it is due to smoking two to three cigars a day.

And this week, Olympiacos were forced to come out in defence of Marinakis and board members, claiming they were being “blackmailed” with allegations of financing “sports violence”.

The influence of the City Football Group on Marinakis cannot be understated.

Under Abu Dhabi United Group owner Sheikh Mansour, a 13-strong collection of teams across five continents includes City, Melbourne City, New York City, Mumbai City, Girona and Shenzhen Peng City.

This is Marinakis’ blueprint, one that is expected to be overseen and run by Edu – an opportunity of global expansion that was not seen as a priority at Arsenal.

But for every City Group, there is Chelsea’s topsy-turvy and messy growth under Todd Boehly’s own multi-club vision, one that feels constantly on the verge of a crisis.

On his six-month gardening leave before beginning his Marinakis adventure, Edu will watch Arsenal vs Forest from home this weekend.

A penny for his thoughts, whatever the score.