Who is Edu Gaspar? Everything you need to know about the ex-Arsenal player turned director

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Edu Gaspar has been a pivotal figure at Arsenal over the years, whether that was in a playing capacity or in the boardroom.

The Brazilian featured for the Gunners between 2001 and 2005, making 79 Premier League appearances under Arsene Wenger in one of the club’s most successful periods.

He also featured for Corinthians and Valencia before hanging up his boots in 2010, pursuing some different roles in football.

A position as director of football followed for Corinthians before he made the switch to Brazil’s national team general coordinator from 2016 to 2019.

After that, he joined Arsenal again, this time as technical director before becoming the first-ever director of football after an impressive rebuild.

• READ MORE: Edu Gaspar set to leave Arsenal as person responsible for exit now revealed after internal ‘talks’

Edu Gaspar age and height

Edu Gaspar was born on May 16, 1978, which currently makes him 46 years old at the time of writing.

The former midfielder comes in at roughly 1.85m tall – or six foot and one inch in height overall.

Edu Gaspar nationality

Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Edu is of Brazilian nationality and even featured for the international side between 2004 and 2005 for a few games.

Which position did Edu Gaspar play?

During his playing career, Edu played predominantly in midfield and featured over 160 times for all three clubs he played for.

Edu Gaspar playing career stats

Playing for Corinthians, Arsenal and Valencia, Edu had a pretty successful career that also allowed him to play for the Brazilian national team.

Two Premier League titles, three FA Cups, two Brazilian Serie As, a FIFA Club World Cup, a Copa del Rey and a Copa America were all highlights of his career.

Edu was a feature of the Arsenal side that became known as The Invincibles, going a whole season without defeat in the Premier League.

Edu Gaspar wife, son and daughter

After settling down from his playing career, Edu built a family with his wife, Paula Gaspar, which features a son and daughter.

Luigi Gaspar, son of Edu, is contracted to Arsenal and features for the under-18s team in the academy setup.

Maria Gaspar is the daughter of Edu and has been seen at some games around the Emirates Stadium.

What was Edu Gaspar’s job at Arsenal?

Edu made his way back to north London in 2019 when he joined Arsenal as a technical director to begin with.

This would involve some decisions behind the scenes surrounding player contracts and various decisions over the squad.

He was later appointed the director of football, which would hold more power to make signings and decisions in the transfer market.

Edu Gaspar’s Arsenal transfers

Over the years, Edu has been involved in some huge decisions that have played a part in rebuilding the Arsenal squad for Mikel Arteta.

That has included exits for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mesut Ozil and other underperforming but high-paid players during his tenure.

In came some fresh hungry players as Ben White, Martin Odegaard and more have underlined his impact with the team competing at the top again.

Edu Gaspar BBQ

One thing that Edu has been an enthusiast about away from the football pitch and the boardroom appears to be barbecuing.

The director was seen on social media setting up a BBQ for his family, which led to plenty of images that fans wanted to use.

Plenty of it would surround the idea of Edu cooking up something good for Arsenal with his work on the transfer front.