Following the news that he is to leave his role as Sporting Director of Arsenal, Edu has been placed on six months’ gardening leave by the club.
It is normal practice because he was closely involved with the club’s transfer strategy, and they do not want him to have access to what is proprietary, especially with the January window opening in less than two months.
Clubs often plan up to three or four windows ahead, so Arsenal may now have to pivot to other targets, since Edu would have been involved in the identification process of possible players.
Jason Ayto, meanwhile, who served as assistant to Edu will be placed in temporary charge whilst the search for a permanent successor continues.
Ayto will nominally be in charge of recruitment at the club, but Mikel Arteta is expected to have an enhanced role in it.
