Arsenal: Edu the second start to the new era

Arsenal are reportedly on the brink of agreeing to terms with Edu to take over as the new technical director. After a breakdown of the initial management team to succeed Arsene Wenger, this is the second start to the new era.

The post-Arsene Wenger era was never going to be easy. As Manchester United’s struggles in the aftermath of Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure in 2013 illustrated, succeeding a manager who has unrivalled influence throughout a club is not an easy task, and in replacing Wenger, that is what Arsenal faced.

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Ivan Gazidis, to his credit, did his best to sturdy the management structures behind the scenes, such that he could then pop a head coach into. He hired a head of recruitment, a head of relations, fitness and contract gurus, all with the intention of providing support for the head coach.

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But the theory never quite matched the practice. Gazidis departed within three months of Unai Emery’s arrival. Sven Mislintat, the new head of recruitment, then left soon after. And now Darren Burgess, the high-performance director, has also left. Not exactly ideal. And amidst all of this, Arsenal have been with a director ever since Mislintat’s exit in February, which, unsurprisingly, is not the best preparation for the summer transfer window.

However, it seems as though as this calamitous process is about to come to an end. According to James Benge of Football.London, Arsenal are on the brink of confirming former midfield Edu as their new technical director. He will join up with his former team in July after major progress in discussions in recent weeks.

Edu is the national team coordinator for the Brazilian national team, who are set to compete in this summer’s Copa America which they will host. Before that, he was the sporting director at Corinthians, where he ended his playing days, and he worked under Emery for one year at Valencia in 2008/09.

How proficient he is at being a technical director, I have literally no idea. And absolutely no one does, especially those on the outside who do not know what decisions were made by what individuals at a particular organisation. But this does certainly feel like the second start of the new, post-Wenger era.

With Sanllehi now serving as the head of football, Vinai Venkatesham in charge of the commercial side of the club, and Edu set to be inserted as the technical director, Arsenal now seem to be in safe hands moving forward — although that is precisely what I would have said this time last year. The club is ready to embrace the future.

Perhaps now, then, the true succession of Wenger can begin. Perhaps now, the new beginning of the club can start. For six months, anyway, until everyone falls out and half of them resign.