Gary Neville says ‘something doesn’t smell right’ over Edu’s ‘startling’ Arsenal exit

Gary Neville says ‘something doesn’t smell right’ over Edu’s departure at Arsenal – but the former Manchester United defender believes it will soon be forgotten if Mikel Arteta’s men manage to rediscover their form over the coming weeks.

An official announcement on Monday confirmed that Edu had handed in his resignation as Arsenal’s sporting director, bringing an end to the Brazilian’s two-year tenure in the position.

The 46-year-old returned to north London in 2019, initially taking on the position of technical director before his promotion in November 2022.

Widespread reports claim Edu has been lined up for a recruitment role in the network of clubs spearheaded by Evangelos Marinakis, the owner of Nottingham Forest and Olympiacos.

The news has come as something of a shock to Arsenal supporters given Edu, a member of Arsene Wenger’s fabled Invincibles squad, had seemingly built a strong working relationship with head coach Mikel Arteta.

‘Something doesn’t smell right and you’re thinking, “If something doesn’t smell right and it doesn’t look right, it’s normally not right”,’ ex-Manchester United right-back Neville said on The Overlap US.

‘We haven’t got the detail, we don’t know what’s happening completely. We know that, obviously, he’s going to go and work for the owner of Nottingham Forest and Olympiacos.

‘If I was Arsenal, you’d be asking serious questions how you’ve lost your sporting director of what is an amazing football club, a club that I’ve just said is the second club in England, in terms of history and tradition, to go and work for the guy who runs Olympiacos and Nottingham Forest.

‘It doesn’t sound right to me. Now look, it might be a financial package which is just so sensational for Edu that basically he thinks: “Well actually, I can’t turn it down for my family”.

‘But I can’t believe he’s not earning significant money at Arsenal.’

On rumours Edu has received an eye-watering offer that would triple his wage packet, Neville responded: ‘Well that’s insane.

‘That may be the thing, it just may come down to money and it may come down to the fact that he feels he’s taken this Arsenal project as far as he can.

‘If they do win the league this year he could probably say, “I set this up, I was the one who changed the fortunes of Arsenal, I was the one who built the squad with Arteta”, so he would still get some sort of credit for that.

‘It’s not something that I think would sit right with Arsenal, it doesn’t sit right with us. It doesn’t look right, it looks like something… to be fair, has something gone wrong? Is there a difference of opinion?

‘Is there a question mark between the manager and the sporting director as to tactics, the way in which they play, the way in which we go, not using the squad right? Has that conversation happened and they’ve had to choose one of them? That sometimes happens with sporting directors and managers.

‘None of these may be true but what it does when you see something as startling as this, it opens the door for these types of questions to be asked and these types of rumours to occur and I have to say, for Arsenal, it’s not good.’

Edu’s departure comes after a disappointing few weeks for the Gunners and Neville believes it has the ‘potential’ to further destabilise the club.

However, the ex-England defender is confident Arsenal will come through their difficult period and Edu’s exit will be a distant memory before too long.

‘It has the potential, of course, because we don’t know how important Edu was,’ Neville continued.

‘I believe Mikel Arteta has got enough about him, he’s got enough stability. We’re not on his back for what’s happening in these first few weeks of the season, we think he’s done a good job, we think he’s made progression over these last few years.

‘He’s got a decent character and personality, he’s now quite experienced, I think he should be able to see this through to the end of the season and not let it slide downhill.

‘But there is a risk of that. If they carry on getting the results that they’re getting, this is not going to end well because they have invested heavily in that squad and they’re a fantastic team.

‘I’m expecting Arsenal to rise in results and rise in performance levels in this next month or so and we’ll start then to forget about this Edu moment.’

In a statement shared by Arsenal’s official website, Edu said he had ‘loved’ working alongside Arteta and passed on his best wishes to the club for the future.

‘This was an incredibly hard decision to make,’ he said.

‘Arsenal has given me the opportunity to work with so many amazing people and the chance to be a part of something so special in the club’s history.

‘It has been a special journey and I thank Stan, Josh, Tim and Lord Harris for the support they’ve given me.  

‘I’ve loved working with so many great colleagues across our men’s, women’s and academy teams, especially Mikel, who has become a great friend. 

‘Now it is time to pursue a different challenge. Arsenal will always remain in my heart. I wish the club and its supporters only good things and all the very best.’

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