Edu Gaspar joins Nottingham Forest as sporting director in a new global head of football role at the midlands club.
Edu Gaspar, the former sports director of Arsenal, has taken a position as Nottingham Forest’s new worldwide head of football.
“Oversee all football-related functions, including recruitment, performance, squad strategy, and player development,” according to Forest.
The 47-year-old Edu returned Arsenal in 2019 as technical director after playing for them from 2001 to 2005 and earning two Premier League titles.
He resigned in November 2024 after being elevated to sporting director in November 2022.
“I’m truly excited about this new chapter and honoured by the trust placed in me,” said Edu.
“This project connects deeply with my values around innovation and long-term planning. I look forward to building a global football model that is competitive, sustainable, and aligned with our president’s [Evangelos Marinakis] ambition.”
In addition to owning Rio Ave in Portugal and Olympiakos in Greece, Marinakis, the owner of Forest, revealed in December of last year that he had been in negotiations to buy Vasco da Gama of Brazil.
Edu, a former Valencia player who also spent two stints at Corinthians, joined the latter in 2011 as director of football and was the general coordinator of the Brazil national team from 2016 to 2019.
The former Brazil player was instrumental in the hiring of manager Mikel Arteta at Arsenal, and the Gunners won the FA Cup in the Spaniard’s debut season.
Edu was largely credited with helping turn the team back into legitimate title contenders, even though they haven’t won any significant hardware since.