Arsenal Director: My Many Decisions Were Unpopular, But They Successfully Returned the Team to Title Contenders

Recently, Arsenal’s sporting director, Edu, spoke with Men In Blazers. During the interview, he discussed changes in the age structure of the team over recent years and why he decided to let go of several high-profile players, despite facing significant criticism for these moves.

In the interview, Edu stated: “As a sporting director, you have to believe in yourself and be convinced that you can make changes that will impact the club. I was very focused on player age when I arrived, and almost everyone at the club was over 26-27 years old, earning high salaries but not performing as expected. No other club would have been interested in such players.”

“So you have to make decisions to let these players go, even if it takes three to four years or longer. These decisions start to attract criticism, and you become unpopular because these players often have dedicated fan bases among supporters and the media. However, I had to clear out those players. We needed to sign younger, less expensive players who were more promising and hungry, players who could serve as the foundation for rebuilding the team.”

Edu was appointed technical director by Arsenal in 2019 and later promoted to sporting director. In his first season at the club, Arsenal finished fifth in the league. However, the following two seasons saw them finish eighth. After restructuring the first-team squad, Arsenal under Mikel Arteta finished fifth in the 2021-22 season and secured second place in the league in the last two seasons.