Arsenal director Edu Gaspar has played a huge part in building a strong squad for Mikel Arteta, and former teammate Ray Parlour has now praised him.
Parlour played alongside Edu in the midfield during the period surrounding the Invincibles season, with the pair rotating with the likes of Patrick Vieira, Gilberto Silva and Freddie Ljungberg.
Edu rejoined the club as a director in 2019, and moved to hire Arteta after playing a part in the dismissal of Unai Emery.
Since then, the pair have rebuilt the squad into a young one which can challenge for the title, and have also been proactive in tying down key players to long-term contracts, with Takehiro Tomiyasu the latest player to agree fresh terms.
Ray Parlour praises Edu Gaspar for Arsenal impact
Speaking to Hayters TV, Parlour claimed that Edu’s ability to identify top talent, as well as strong characters, has made him a particularly useful figure at Arsenal.
“I think he’s now such an important person in the club, to bring in the right players,” he stated.
“I was over the moon for him in the summer when I saw Declan Rice turned up and that was a fantastic signing. You know full well Edu’s trying to do the best for the club, so it’s a big job for him, we all know that but I think he’s the main man, and he knows the history of the club and he knows what sort of dressing room he needs if he’s going to be successful.
“He was involved in a lot of big dressing rooms when we were very successful. He knew the characters we had in there, so hopefully that’s an important attribute to him as well, the character of the player to bring in, and I’m sure he knows roughly what sort of characters he needs in that dressing room.”
Edu Gaspar has earned his flowers at Arsenal
Edu was the subject of a lot of criticism during Arteta’s earlier years at the club. Players with links to his agent Kia Joorabchian were being signed and linked, with Willian and Cedric Soares joining unsuccessfully, whilst Philippe Coutinho was heavily linked with a surprise move.
However, he has since been an outstanding director at Arsenal. He has helped Arteta land his key targets, and has also helped drive a proactive approach to recruitment.
Arsenal now get their business done more efficiently than ever, with the likes of Rice and Kai Havertz joining early in the transfer window last summer, and Edu has been a huge factor in Arteta’s success in rebuilding the club from the bottom up.