Edu has been heavily criticised in the past for his transfer market activity as Arsenal’s technical director since taking over in 2019. However, he is beginning to show why he has been incredibly important to the Gunners’ rebuild.
The summer transfer window epitomised the successful job Edu has carried out to ensure Arsenal remain at the top in the years that are to follow. The Brazilian had to make a crunch decision on the next striker signing to lead the line for the Gunners, and the early weeks of the season has shown he succeeded in doing this.
Gabriel Jesus has been a revelation since joining from Manchester City. However, it could have turned out differently if Edu opted to pursue a deal for Richarlison..
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Richarlison has recently revealed what happened over the summer that saw him secure a move to join Spurs and opened up on interest from Arsenal and Chelsea. The 25-year-old said: "I know Chelsea made an offer, and I believe Arsenal also contacted Everton to ask about my situation, but Spurs came in and paid the fee, you know?
"It’s as simple as that. Everton had to sell some players to avoid a Financial Fair Play problem, and the negotiations were very brief, to be honest.
"I was on holiday in Brazil when I heard that Tottenham had made Everton an offer. I was happy because they are a huge team. Then it was all about the clubs negotiating a deal, and fortunately, everything went well."
Richarlison ended up joining the Lilywhites in what was believed to be a £60million deal, while Edu opted to sign Jesus for a £45million fee. And Edu’s decision to go with the cheaper option has proven to be correct in the early weeks of the new season.
In the first three games of the Premier League this season, according to Squawka, Jesus had the highest expected goals (xG) in the division, alongside the most goals and assists, the most touches in the opposition box, and the most take-ons completed. The Brazilian had been completely dominant in his opening matches as an Arsenal player.
Only two players have scored in 50 different Premier Leagues without losing a single match. One of these players is Gabriel Jesus, whose goal against Brentford meant that he has now reached the 50-game mark being able to score in a game without losing. James Milner is the only player to have a better record than the Brazilian having scored 54 goals without losing a game.
Jesus has had an excellent start to the season under Mikel Arteta, scoring two goals in his first home game for the Gunners against Leicester. And it is because of his explosive start that he had been named Arsenal’s player of the month for August. His dominant first month has led to him scoring four goals in total since the beginning of the season and his has also provided three assists, which puts him joint third in the league behind Bukayo Saka and Kevin De Bruyne.
While Richarlison has begun to show promise at Tottenham following his Champions League double against Marseille, Jesus has set the Premier League alight in the opening matches of the campaign highlighting that Edu’s decision is certainly vindicated.
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