'It's a shock': Martin Keown hints at possible reason for Edu's departure from Arsenal
Martin Keown believes Arsenal's Edu could leave the club because he wants to return to his home country.
The Gunners sporting director is willing to make a shocking departure from the Emiratesand has been linked with a job at Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis' group of clubs: Forest, Olympiacos and Rio Ave.
the first Arsenal The midfielder has been a key player in the rebuilding of Mikel Arteta's club, helping to recruit stars such as Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice and William Saliba.
Now, it looks like the Gunners will have to fight for their first Premier League title in over 20 years without him, and former Arsenal midfielder Keown revealed his theory as to why. education could be going.
Reacting to the news about White and Jordan, Keown was asked why Edu wouldn't want to see his 'project' at Arsenal.
“Well, I don't know what could be better than playing that role at Arsenal,” he said. “Maybe I want to go back to Brazil.”
Edu, who was born in Sao Paulo and stood out at Corinthians, signed for Arsenal in 2001, before moving to Valencia in 2005. He returned to the club as technical director in 2019.
The Gunners won the FA Cup in 2020 and Edu was promoted to sporting director in 2022.
Just two months ago, Edu spoke of looking forward to the club's future and working with Arteta after the Spaniard extended his contract.
But now, the Brazilian seems ready to leave his close friend behind.
Reflecting on the work Edu has done, Keown said: “In the end, it took him a while to get going, didn't it, Edu? I mean, he needed some support from those above him.
“I think the biggest change at Arsenal was a greater investment of time and inclination by the Kroenke family. And I think that was reflected in Josh Kroenke becoming much more visible and much more committed to Arsenal after the challenges of the European Super League and Arsenal get out of that position.
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“So I think, ultimately, if you have a good relationship, it's good to have good relationships. But Arteta, does he lose a great ally? Does he need a great ally?
“Do you already have a relationship with the decision makers? I suspect so. I suspect ultimately. Will it be an advantage? It depends on whether they bring in a better sporting director.”
“If they bring in a better sporting director, who will have a broader mandate, who will have a better understanding of being able to acquire even better players than what Edu did… I'm not at all sure that all of Edo's signings were the biggest signings.
“With that in mind, we have Arsenal being challenged on the pitch at the moment and people are perceiving it as a challenge off it.”
Keown and Edu played together at Highbury between 2001 and 2005.
And although he values his former team-mate highly and believes the Brazilian will be a big loss for the Gunners, he believes the club is in a position to cope.
“He's a really good man,” Keown continued. “This will be a loss for the club. There is no doubt about that. But there is already great stability with Tim Lewis on the board.
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“Richard Garlick now is someone who really impresses me and of course the manager. But he has helped bring stability to the club, changes, the culture is back to what we would have seen in the past. It will affect the players because he is in training camp every day there is a working relationship.
“The players have great respect for him. It would be difficult not to like him. I think that, in general, the signings have been good. The club has started to improve.”
“The DNA of signings has now become very physical, hasn't it? Less technical. And the club is definitely on the way back. It's a shock.
But of course it can never be about one person.”
He added: “I imagine they're going to get the best man in the class to intervene now, if this is true, in this story.
“It's a sad moment to see him go, but I think he leaves with everyone's blessing.”
Former Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman was also stunned by the reports, and first heard about them while speaking to talkSPORT Breakfast.
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He said: “It's the first time I've heard that and I hope it's not true. I see Edu when I go to Arsenal once a week. “He's a big influence at the club, he's someone you want to keep.
“He's a former teammate of mine who won doubles and he's someone you want to follow, so I really hope that's not true.”
After losing against Newcastle On Saturday, Arsenal will hope to win again in the Champions League against Inter Milan on Wednesday.
