Nottingham Forest could be about to make a very substantial off-field appointment at the City Ground with Edu Gasper set to be out of work.
It’s been announced today that the sporting director is leaving Arsenal – with Evangelos Marinakis very keen to hire Edu at Forest.
The Brazilian who played for Arsenal during his time wearing the boots has been with the Gunners in a sporting director role since 2019.
Edu has been a superb figure at Arsenal and has transformed them from a bunch of no-hopers into genuine title challengers alongside Manchester City.
Forest made great strides off the pitch in the summer, signing a number of talented players in a sound change of strategy on the recruitment front.
Several pundits have hailed the team this season. At the weekend, Jason Cundy admitted he was so impressed with Forest during the 3-0 win over West Ham.
Two Edu signings at Arsenal have already failed at Nottingham Forest
As ever with these types of appointments, caution must be thrown to the wind.
Forget what Edu achieved with Arsenal who can afford to be lavish with their funds every year, the Brazilian will be judged on what he achieves at Forest.
Graeme Bailey exclusively told us that Edu will be overseeing things at all three of Marinakis’ clubs; Forest, Olympiacos and Rio Ave.
Right now, there is the concept too that nothing is confirmed at this stage – despite the fact that Marinakis wants to get this one done pretty sharpish.
Forest fans will be completely aware that Edu hasn’t always got things right at Arsenal, with two of his signings ending up at Forest.
First, Matt Turner was plucked from the Gunners for £10 million last summer.
He was given the chance to become the first-choice goalkeeper but failed miserably and was loaned out to Crystal Palace during the summer.
Turner kept three clean sheets for Forest and made a number of high-profile errors.
The other player who Edu signed for Arsenal who failed miserably was Portuguese defender Nuno Tavares.
Mikel Arteta famously subbed him after 27 minutes during a 1-0 defeat against Forest in the FA Cup and last season the Reds landed him on loan.
Tavares barely got a look in under Steve Cooper last season and when Nuno Espirito Santo came to the club he couldn’t hold down a place in the team.
Intriguingly, Tavares is now starring for Lazio in Italy but it’s fair to say he wasn’t a successful signing for Edu at Arsenal.
Edu could be game-changing addition to Forest boardroom
Although there are two examples of players who Edu signed that didn’t work out, there are lots of successes within his portfolio.
William Saliba and Gabriel have struck up a strong partnership and he was instrumental in both of those deals.
There is also Declan Rice as a nod towards his work, with Ben White and Gabriel Martinelli also signed on his watch.
Marinakis clearly fancies Edu to make a big impact on his three clubs – with Forest set to benefit from his work with Arsenal in the Premier League.
With other clubs likely to be keen on recruiting him after his exit from Arsenal, the Forest owner might need to move quickly.
It’s the nature of the beast with his role that mistakes will be made, however, the hope will be that Tavares and Turner aren’t repeated on his watch moving forward.
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