Edu arrived at Arsenal in 2019 having left his role with the Brazilian national team. There was an expectation that the club’s new technical director would open up a door to the South American market, in particular, to his homeland.
Gabriel Martinelli arrived from Ituano in Sao Paolo however, former head scout Francis Cagigao was the driving force behind the deal not Edu. Arsenal have signed both players of Brazilian descent and from the top league of the nation.
David Luiz, Willian, Gabriel Magalhaes and Pablo Mari have all signed, but none fulfil the criteria of the young starlets and hidden gems that supporters were waiting for. This however looks to be changing with Arsenal pushing to sign one of Brazil’s highest-rated stars.
Brazilian outlet UOL have reported that despite Manchester City looking the outright favourites to land Atletico Mineiro winger Sávio, Arsenal are now working hard to usurp the English champions.
Arsenal and Edu have been looking to present a more interesting offer to the player for a few weeks in regard to player wages and future prospects for first-team football.
Interestingly, football.london understands that the Gunners are monitoring another South American player. Jhilmar Lora, a Peruvian senior international at just 21-years of age is also being linked.
Arsenal will be in need of securing a backup to Takehiro Tomiyasu in the near future with Cedric Soares reaching his 30s and the need to improve the depth of quality in the squad.
Lora could be that player and by using the South American market to their advantage, Edu may finally be able to exploit the large pool of talent available there.
The hope will be that Arsenal are involved in European football next season and so a larger squad will be necessary.
With the announcement also to expand the Champions League, the number of matches that a participant of the European tournament will partake in will increase from six group stage games to ten matches in the Swiss League model.
The four additional games on top of League Cup and FA Cup matches will put an additional strain on players, coaches and clubs.
Arsenal will need to get ahead by bringing in more players to strengthen all areas of the squad so that Mikel Arteta’s side, should he be in charge by 2024/25, are able to rotate and not lose substantial first-team quality from the side.
The benefit of being in the competition can best be understood from how Arsenal have struggled without being in the Champions League since Arsene Wenger’s final seasons saw the Gunners drop into the Europa League.
The plan is now to get back into it and with Edu scouting in South America and competing with Manchester City is a sign that the club are moving in the right direction.
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