Former Arsenal director of football Edu takes advisory role at League Two club
Edu, the man who helped build Arsenal's title winning squad as the club's first sporting director, has taken on a new advisory role at League Two strugglers Northampton Town following the Brazilian consortium's takeover of the club last month.
According to the BBC, Edu will act as a senior advisor to Northampton's new owners, helping the club with sporting matters on an ad hoc basis. The Cobblers, currently 23rd in League Two, were taken over last month by a Brazilian consortium that includes former AC Milan and Chelsea forward Alexandre Pato.
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Speaking at an open forum event, Cobblers co-chairman Joao Xavier explained how the relationship with Edu came about. He said Edu would help the club navigate what he called sporting questions, but stressed the arrangement would not be a daily commitment.
Xavier said: We are very proud to have Alex with us and Edu with us too. We became friends as he had a role at Nottingham Forest and I asked him to help me learn more about English football. Edu is a senior advisor for one of our partners, acting as an advisor for Levski Sofia and also here, helping us navigate the sporting questions here at the club, not day to day, just when we ask him and when we need him.
Xavier was also keen to clarify that Northampton will not become part of any multi-club network, insisting: The club will never be part of a multi-club ownership, no other club is part of our project.
Edu's journey since leaving Arsenal
Edu spent six years at Arsenal, joining as the club's first ever sporting director in 2022. During his time in north London he brought Mikel Arteta to the Emirates Stadium and oversaw the majority of the recruitment that eventually delivered Arsenal's first Premier League title in 22 years last season, having previously won two Premier League titles and two FA Cups as a player with the Gunners.
Since leaving Arsenal, Edu's path has taken some unexpected turns. He joined Nottingham Forest as their global head of football, but his position came under scrutiny after a disagreement with Nuno Espirito Santo, who was sacked last September, the first of four managers Forest went through during the 2025-26 campaign. Edu departed his role at Forest in September.
He has since joined the board of directors at Bulgarian top flight club Levski Sofia, who are owned by London based investment firm Gemcorp Capital. Gemcorp is also an investor in Sports Alpha Capital, the group that has become Northampton's majority shareholder, which explains the overlapping connections between Edu's various new roles.
Edu's advisory role at Northampton appears to be informal and occasional rather than a return to frontline football management, but it continues what has been an eventful 18 months since his Arsenal exit.
