Edu Arsenal exit threat and the planned transfers to hand Mikel Arteta dream squad

Arsenal sit joint top of the Premier League as they go for their second attempt at a title challenge having ultimately seen last season’s opportunity slip away. Much of the reason behind that failure was due to a lack of depth in the squad and with William Saliba, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Gabriel Jesus long-term injuries came to defeat.

Sporting director Edu Gaspar has been in charge of the club’s recruitment alongside manager Mikel Arteta and head of football operations Richard Garlick with the help of a wider analytical and scouting team. The Brazilian spearheaded the biggest spend in the club’s history in the summer, reacting to some of the shortcomings of the season before.

However, this could have been very different. There was a period, in October of 2022 when the potential for the Brazilian to leave the club had become very real.

Speaking to The Athletic Football Podcast last year, David Ornstein revealed that Edu was receiving interest from a number of places. Had any of these been tempting enough, it is interesting to consider what might be different.

«When you speak to people in the game, there's been interest in Edu from elsewhere, he's had opportunities. But they are going to hope to keep this nucleus they've got together now at the executive level and at the player level.

»If Arsenal make it into next season's Champions League, then the revenues will take a massive uplift. Don't forget that the Kroenkes have been largely funding this process, in exactly what form in terms of loan, equity or whatever I'm not an expert on, but it is a serious undertaking."

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