Arsenal technical director, Edu, has spoken up on the club’s transfer policy and the idea behind the deals conducted this summer.
Arsenal might have started their season in the worst possible manner but excelled in doing business during the transfer period. The Gunners decided to overhaul their transfer policy and opted to bring in young talent instead of experienced stars.
In recent seasons, Arsenal made some terrible decisions in the transfer window by bringing in experienced, ageing stars on big wages. Mikel Arteta and technical director Edu have worked together to oversee a rebuild of the squad. The club signed six players during the window, all under the age of 23.
Those signings give a glimpse of what Arteta could be planning. Suddenly Arsenal have gone from a top-heavy squad to balancing their act with the right mix of youth and experience. However, following three consecutive defeats in the Premier League, their strategy and how the club is run have asked questions.
Edu gave a rare interview on Sky Sports, answering all sorts of questions regarding the club, their transfer policy, and some departed players. The Arsenal technical director expanded his thoughts in the best way possible, and his answers probably could help clear the air between the club and its supporters.
While the interview was long, certain important points the technical director made caught the attention. Host Geoff Shreeves asked Edu about Arsenal’s transfer window and the thinking behind the signings they made. He was also asked to explain why the fans were underwhelmed despite the Gunners spending the most cash among their top-six competitors.
Edu answered, “Yes, I understand the reason because firstly, they have not seen the team playing together yet. That’s one of the reasons, but I think we have to see the wider context than just to see the money around it.”
“We signed six players who are under 23, which means a lot in terms of our planning. Normally, people like to see just one window, so I have to say it is the bigger picture because we started planning this squad a year ago in terms of consolidating the team and to try to get a better foundation.”
Edu also spoke about the many renewals the club have completed recently involving players such as Kieran Tierney, Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe.
He went on to explain the reasons behind the thinking and said, “Why did we do that? Because we have a reason to try again to create a good foundation, and then, one day, maybe we are going to sign one or two players only. But after that, it’s impossible to sign one or two players only because we have a lot to do.”
“We have to balance the squad better. We have to recruit the players with the right characteristics and the right profile to make the squad better, more solid and much more consistent because last season, we suffered with consistency. Now, I want to give Mikel Arteta and the board a much better squad.”
Whether the transfer policy works in Arsenal’s favour remains to be seen. However, after a slow start to the season, the questions will keep popping up unless the Gunners show definitive signs of progress in the weeks and months to come.
