Arsenal are in advanced talks to secure Edu Gaspar's replacement as the club's sporting director.
The Gunners were rocked by the surprise revelation last month that club legend Edu was to leave after five years behind the scenes. The Brazilian won the title with Arsenal in 2004 and has been integral to rebuilding the club to compete for titles.
Though the likes of Tomas Rosicky has been linked, along with a role change for academy director Per Mertesacker, it looks as if the north Londoners may recruit externally for the job – with manager Mikel Arteta's job seemingly becoming more secure as a result.
Arsenal are in 'advanced talks' over new director
Arteta, ranked at no.4 in FourFourTwo's list of the best managers in the world right now, is very much Edu's man.
The outgoing Brazilian was relatively new in the job when he led the decision to sack Unai Emery at the Emirates Stadium in favour of Arteta – who he has heavily backed since – so the Arsenal boss may be forgiven for feeling a little uneasy about a change in working relationship behind the scenes.
Foot Mercato, however, are reporting that advanced negotiations have taken place between Arsenal and Real Sociedad director Roberto Olabe over moving to the Premier League at the end of the season, with Sport Witness relaying information from Spain that a “captivated” Olabe ”would accept” the challenge.
This would appear to be good news for Arteta – and not just because it adds another Basque to the Arsenal backroom staff. La Real have enjoyed a positive relationship with the Gunners in recent seasons, with Mikel Merino's transfer over the summer a big example.
The Spanish international was linked with a move throughout the transfer window, with Arsenal negotiating a healthy deal for both parties, despite a release clause being in place.
Prior to that, Kieran Tierney's loan move to San Sebastian was seen as a leftfield choice despite interest elsewhere, helping to foster a bond between the two clubs.
In FourFourTwo's opinion, this would be a world-class hire. Real and Arsenal share the same values of promoting young talent from within their academy and growing a community culture in which players see their club as an end goal and not a stepping stone. Olabe has a reputation as an excellent recruiter, too, and has grown Txuri-Urdin to compete in the Champions League last season.
Arteta played for Real Sociedad, his hometown club, during 2004/05 before moving to Everton.
