The latest details emerging from Arsenal shows that a key component of sporting director Edu Gaspar’s recruitment and retention approach is paying off.
The Brazilian former midfielder, who played for Arsenal between 2001 and 2005, became the club’s first sporting director in 2022.
He has helped engineer the signing of Declan Rice in that time, arguably one of the most significant signings in the Gunners’ history.
Analysis of their position under the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) suggests that they could be set to spend similarly in the current window.
Their could, however, also be a number of relatively high-profile departures, including a number of former academy players.
And one deal outside of Arsenal illustrates how Edu is helping to protect the
Arsenal to take cut of Chelsea’s deal for Omari Hutchinson
Forward Omari Hutchinson spent seven years at Arsenal’s academy, from 2015 to 2022.
He subsequently joined Chelsea for an undisclosed fee, from where he was loaned out to Ipswich Town during their 2023-24 promotion-winning campaign.
Now,the 20-year-old has signed for the Premier League new boys permanently in a deal worth north of £20m.
As reported by The Sun, Arsenal will bank around £3m from the deal thanks to a 15 per cent sell-on clause.
Hutchinson’s departure from Arsenal pre-dates Edu’s appointment as sporting director, before which he was the club’s technical director.
However, it does validate Edu’s approach of inserting sell-on clauses in departing players’ contracts.
Speaking in 2022, as quoted by Arsenal Fanatics News, Edu said: “Receiving a lower transfer fee but a higher sell on clause for a young talented player who just might be off the first team in terms of experience would effectively give the selling clubs a buyback clause that would have never been agreed.
“Worst-case scenario you eventually get the value even if you don’t want the player back.”
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Arsenal earn £154m for academy products, with another £90m potentially on the way
Data collected by industry experts CIES Football Observatory shows that Arsenal rank among the most lucrative academies in world football over the last decade.
The Gunners have raked in £154m through the sale of homegrown talent, while a number of other potential exits could further boost that figure.
Emile Smith Row, Reiss Nelson and Eddie Nketiah are all being linked with departures this summer, with each being valued around the £30m mark.
Significantly, academy sales count as ‘pure profit’ under the terms of PSR, meaning they are effectively more to the club’s ability to spend under the system.
