Edu has had a good start to the January transfer window in terms of offloading players, something the club struggled to do in the summer window.
Arsenal have already shipped Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Folarin Balogun out on loan deals, while Pablo Mari is expected to complete his temporary move to Serie A side Udinese in the near future.
Loaning players out has proven to be a great way to free up space in the squad for potential incomings, but as the summer transfer window approaches, Edu will need to ensure some of the aforementioned loan moves become permanent.
If he succeeds in generating money from the sales of the likes of Maitland-Niles and Mari in the summer market, his transfer strategy will be deemed a success.
Maitland-Niles' move to AS Roma shocked a lot of fans considering the lack of options available to Mikel Arteta in the central midfield department - an issue that has been exacerbated by players jetting off to fulfil international commitments at the Africa Cup of Nations - but to keep the 24-year-old at the club against his will and risk creating a toxic environment in the dressing room would have been foolish.
Sending him out on loan to the Italian side will hopefully allow him the chance to showcase his talents on a regular basis, meaning Arsenal can command a decent fee for him in the summer.
His departure also creates room in the squad for another central midfielder who can slot in alongside Thomas Partey, meaning the Gunners can dominate and have more control in games.
Folarin Balogun followed Maitland-Niles out of the club recently as he secured a move to Championship promotion contenders Middlesbrough, however, the motive behind his temporary exit differs significantly from that of Maitland-Niles'.
Edu has undoubtedly sanctioned Balogun's departure with a view to the talented youngster earning valuable first-team minutes, meaning he'll hopefully return to the Emirates Stadium a more complete player and may even be able to compete for a place in the starting XI in the coming years.
More importantly, Balogun’s move to Boro has created space in the squad for Arteta to sign a striker without the worry of hindering the academy graduate's development, meaning a move for Fiorentina star Dusan Vlahovic looks increasingly likely.
Arsenal currently have a number of other players away on loan, with Lucas Torreira, Matteo Guendouzi and Konstantinos Mavropanos all enjoying temporary spells away from the Emirates.
All three players look to have been deemed surplus to requirements by Arteta, and if Edu can sell them plus some of the players to have been sent out on loan deals this month, the transfer kitty will be looking a whole lot healthier.
Arsenal are understood to be desperate to thrash out a loan deal for Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo, though with a valuation of £22.5m (as per Transfermarkt) they'll need to dig deep in the summer if they want to make the move permanent.
Similarly, Fabrizio Romano reports that Fiorentina could demand as much as £60m for Vlahovic, so if Arsenal want to sign both players they'll need to stump up somewhere in the region of £82.5m. Selling some of the players out on loan could be the key to Arteta building his dream squad.
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