Edu embarks on transfer war for Arsenal leaving Mikel Arteta and Unai Emery on the front line

Edu Gaspar remains a figure at Arsenal that, despite a successive title challenge much thanks to the business he has done in the market, is still someone who many supporters are yet to be convinced by. I have come to realise that whilst both Mikel Arteta and Edu remain at the club some will never be happy thanks to their unwavering position on an opinion that neither are good enough for the club.

They often point to the work done by those at Aston Villa in such a short space of time. The Aston Villa that beat Arsenal in fortuitous circumstances and then failed to take the initiative to go top of the table by choking a home clash with bottom club Sheffield United — had the Gunners been in their shoes it bear not trying to imagine the headspace the aforementioned critics would have occupied.

But Villa are a very good example of a club with greater ambitions than the wider footballing community expects of them. They work to bring Unai Emery to the club and unite him with the shrewd footballing transfer guru of Spain known only as Monchi.

Monchi was once linked with a switch to Arsenal but an opening at Sevilla prompted the then 50-year-old to favour a return to the club that had elevated his profile to what it is in the modern age of the sport. Edu therefore came into Arsenal and the rest is history.

Monchi would leave Sevilla earlier this year to become Aston Villa’s president of football operations. He delivered one of the most exciting summer windows in the club’s history landing players coveted by many of Europe’s elite.

Moussa Diaby, Pau Torres, Youri Tielemans and Nicolo Zaniolo have all arrived and played a part in the club’s rise up the table. That rise includes the aforementioned win over Arsenal and also one of the