A THREAD: Edu Gaspar has gone from a recently appointed technical director to the forefront of Mikel Arteta’s rebuild. Get to know a bit about Edu, his perspectives on football, and how his personality may help shape the future of Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.

Edu was a member of the Arsenal Invincibles. He enjoyed a strong playing career playing for Corinthians, Arsenal, and Valencia. Edu was also a part of the Brazil team that won the 03/04 Copa America for Brazil.

After retiring from football in 2010, Edu took the role of Director of Football at Corinthians, his boyhood club. During his tenure, Corinthians won 2 league titles, the Recopa Sudamericana, Copa Libertadores, and Club World Cup. This built his reputation as a director in Brazil.

This glowing reputation as a young director allowed Edu to secure the role of General Director of the Brazilian National Team in 2016. Through this role Edu was able to learn a lot about player management and how to manage a squad.

Edu Gaspar was appointed as the Technical Director of Arsenal on July 9, 2019. “In his role as technical director Edu will coordinate the work of our first team coaching group, academy, and recruitment in order to see the building and efficient strengthening of our squad.”

A little over a week ago former Director of Football Raul Sanllehi was relieved of his duties at Arsenal. With Raul gone, this assumes the majority of footballing decisions will be in the hands of Technical Director Edu Gaspar while Mikel Arteta will have more say as well.

On why he joined as Tech Director
“I’m really looking forward to improving myself, to giving all of my energy for the club, to experience the job and giving back to the club as well...In Brazil I was away from my family so it is good to be able to be back here with them as well.”

On how his previous experiences have shaped him
“I learned a lot about football in Brazil which has allowed me to feel more prepared to make that jump to Arsenal. To be the first technical director is a challenge, but it is beautiful, very beautiful.”

He Loves Arsenal.

Edu is widely known for his charismatic personality and his ability to connect with others. When asked about it he says “To be honest I didn't change a lot because in my life I have a personality and I put the same personality that I have in my personal life, into my job.

As I said before, with very high transparency, try to talk to people face to face because it is important. And share ideas, be open-minded, listen to people, share with people, that is important to me as well.”

Brings people together.

“I work very close with Mikel. The role of Technical Director requires you to be close with the coach. It is essential to think in a similar way about football. We must see football similarly because when it comes to building a squad and signings we have to be on the same page.”

To be on the same page is essential. Over the last few years Arsenal has struggled with communication between different levels of authority. With Edu and Mikel at the helm in constant communication, it allows them to work collaboratively to identify and secure targets.

Edu’s experience as the Director of Football at Corinthians is very valuable as he shapes Arsenal’s decisions in the summer transfer market. This experience has allowed him to negotiate in the market, although doing it at Arsenal will be on a larger scale.

Edu and Arteta both have the Arsenal DNA. When each of them speak about the club they do it very highly even though the last few years have not been the best. Edu and Arteta will do everything in their power to help Arsenal go back to the top.

If you enjoyed this thread please like, share, and follow! I will have more Arsenal related threads coming on this account in the coming days.

Every new follow is very much appreciated! Follow for more if you haven’t yet. Also, here’s a link to a thread I did about Aubameyang and his journey to the top for additional reading. https://twitter.com/arsenalrising/status/1289951275409432577