Arsenal have confirmed former Invincible Edu as the club’s first technical director.
The former midfielder, who joins from the Brazilian football federation, has previous experience in a technical role having worked as director of football at Corinthians before taking up his post with Brazil.
Edu played under Gunners manager Unai Emery at Valencia and will be with the squad when they fly to America for a pre-season tour this week.
In his role the 41-year-old will ‘coordinate the work of the first-team coaching group, the academy and player scouting and recruitment in order to oversee the constant building up and efficient strengthening of the squad.’
Edu told the club website: “Arsenal has always had a special place in my heart and I’m thrilled to be returning to this great club in this new role. We have a strong squad and some very talented young players with fantastic people at every level. I’m looking forward to helping make a difference.”
Head of football Raul Sanllehi added: “We’re very excited that Edu is joining the team. He has great experience and technical football knowledge and most importantly is a true Arsenal man. He understands the club and what we stand for to our millions of fans around the world.
“His arrival is the final and very important part of the jigsaw in our development of a new football infrastructure to take us forward. He will be working closely with Unai Emery and the first-team coaches, and will play a relevant role leading our football vision and ensuring we have - and follow - a solid philosophy through all our football activities.”
