Good news, that’s all Arsenal fans wanted, right? This has been a challenging start to the new season and the Gunners are not where they wanted to be at all.
This wasn’t in the script. After two close runs, challenging Manchester City right until the very end, they have fallen behind in 2024/25. Defeats to Bournemouth and Newcastle sandwiched a 2-2 draw with Liverpool that has left them five points behind the Citizens and seven points behind the Reds.
At least Arsenal have the foundations in place at the top of the club to improve. Well, so we thought, anyway.
Far gone are the days of Raul Sanllehi and a lack of transparency from Stan Kroenke. In that regard, the North Londoners are far more organised.
Former club CEO Vinai Venkatesham had done a sterling job with Stan and his son Josh Kroenke, who is seen a great deal more in the public eye. However, since he was thrust more into the limelight there has been a greater sense of clarity at board level.
That has been furthered by the appointment of Mikel Arteta who has been brilliant since being hired by KSE. The same can be said of Edu Gaspar, the club’s Sporting Director who has played a huge hand in transfers and contracts behind the scenes. Sadly, he could be on his way out.
Why Edu has left Arsenal
Surprising news emerged on Monday morning that Edu was set to leave Arsenal.
The story came courtesy of Sami Mokbel of the Daily Mail who reported that ‘Arteta is to lose a key ally’.
One of football’s leading sporting directors, the news has been described as a ‘major blow’ to Arsenal with the Brazilian having performed some excellent work over the last few years.
He was the man who backed Arteta when he wanted to get rid of Pierre-Emerick Aubayemang, he was key in the arrivals of players like Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard and has been excellent at negotiating new contracts for some of the club’s key performers, notably Bukayo Saka and William Saliba over the last 18 months.
So, why has he left? Well, according to the Athletic’s David Ornstein, he is exiting for a role across Evangelos Marinakis’ clubs.
Marinakis owns Nottingham Forest, Olympiacos and Portuguese side Rio Ave with Edu set to take up a position where he’ll have more control than he did at the Emirates.
Edu's most expensive Arsenal signings
Arsenal's potential Edu replacement
Little is known with regard to who could replace Edu at this moment in time but this news will likely have sent shockwaves through the football club.
A number of the game’s best Sporting Directors are already taken with the infamous Monchi working with Unai Emery at Aston Villa, Monaco’s former transfer chief Paul Mitchell now at Newcastle and Dan Ashworth – formerly of Brighton – now at Manchester United.
Aston Villa's president of football operations, Monchi.
So, who could they turn to? Well, Bayer Leverkusen’s Simon Rolfes is one name who should be on their shortlist when the time comes to replace Edu.
Together with Xabi Alonso, he has cultivated a phenomenal side in Germany. Alonso gained most of the plaudits but Rolfes was the mastermind behind a project that saw Leverkusen win the Bundesliga unbeaten, reach the Europa League final and win the DFB-Pokal, the German equivalent of the FA Cup.
What makes him such an interesting proposition for Arsenal? Well, there are certainly a few shared beliefs and ideologies.
Although the Gunners have made some mega-money signings over the last few years, there is one key theme; to sign players who are yet to reach their prime.
Some of Edu’s key transfers included William Saliba, the aforementioned Odegaard and more recently young faces like Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber. That has been a key strategy and one Rolfes has actually replicated at Leverkusen.
2024/25
23.1
2023/24
24.8
2022/23
25
2021/22
22.7
2020/21
26
As you can see – Edu has very rarely signed players in their prime (typically between 26-30), and instead has preferred the model of buying young and turning players into potential superstars with the help of Arteta.
That strategy has been employed at the BayArena too, notably when Kai Havertz – a “remarkable” talent in the eyes of Rolfes – left Leverkusen for Chelsea. Who did they look at entrusting? Florian Wirtz. He was just 16 at the time but has now become a genuine star, scoring 18 and registering 20 assists last term.
“The sale of Kai Havertz [has allowed us to compete]. The income allowed us to sign many young players around Florian Wirtz, who have grown.” Rolfes on Leverkusen’s transformation.
Since becoming Sporting Director at Leverkusen, the average age of Rolfes’ transfer dealings has been just 22.8, even younger than Edu’s average but that clearly hasn’t stopped them from having plenty of success.
Just look at some of the names below; they have recruited exceptionally well. Clearly, Rolfes’ talent ID is phenomenal and that bodes particularly well if Arsenal want to look at him to replace Edu.
Florian Wirtz
16
Moussa Diaby
19
Piero Hincapie
19
Adam Hlozek
19
Edmond Tapsoba
20
Jeremie Frimpong
20
Exequiel Palacios
21
Amine Adli
21
Victor Boniface
22
Spotting talent isn’t just about players, however, it’s also about coaches. The 42-year-old has triumphed in this area too. He took the gamble of hiring a young Alonso, as Edu did with Arteta and it’s certainly paid off. It’s safe to say the former midfielder hasn’t got a lot wrong since taking on his job at Bayer.
Like Edu, he’s also capable of keeping his best talent at the club. There will come a day when the likes of Alonso and Wirtz do depart but the fact he was able to convince them to remain in Germany after their unbeaten season speaks volumes.
Rolfes is a man who knows what he’s doing, he can spot talent, he listens to what the manager wants and needs, and executes plans superbly well. At 42, he may not have huge experience but the experience he does have is invaluable.
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