Arsenal are searching for an Edu Gaspar replacement following the former sporting director’s abrupt exit.
Edu left Arsenal in November to take up a new venture in his career, leaving Mikel Arteta behind at Colney.
Now, the search is on for the Gunners to replace the Brazilian, with Andrea Berta the top candidate to succeed the Invincible.
Berta’s transfer history is encouraging for Arsenal, as fans desperately want to see improvement in the squad during the upcoming summer transfer window.
- READ MORE: Who is Andrea Berta? Everything you need to know about new Arsenal sporting director target
Edu Gaspar confirmed Arsenal wanted to sign Raphinha
Arsenal’s ongoing injury woes have magnified just how short the Gunners are in attack, calling for a striker and another winger to be introduced in the summer.
While Edu had plenty of names on his transfer shortlist, Arteta was still left short heading into the 2024/25 campaign, causing a magnificent dent in Arsenal’s Premier League title chances.
Some believe that Edu’s list of signings at Arsenal was lacklustre given the club’s resurgence over the previous few years but, history will tell you that the Brazilian did try to lure one of the continents’ best during his tenure.
In 2022, Edu revealed to Sky Sports that he made contact with Raphinha’s representatives over a potential transfer to Arsenal.
The former sporting director recited a conversation he had with the Brazilian’s now ex-agent Deco, regarding his client’s transfer status.
“Raphinha was everywhere, it’s fair that we had a conversation with Deco because Deco is the player’s agent and I have a good relationship [with him] we are friends,” Edu said.
“I just said to Deco, ‘Can you explain to me the situation for Raphinha?’. He was clear, he said, ‘Edu, we have a very good relationship, I’m not going to lie to you, his idea is to go to Barcelona because it’s his dream to go to Barcelona and we have spoken to Barcelona for a long time’.
“[I said] If something happens, just let me know because I can explore and understand the situation, if not, no problem.”
Raphinha fulfilled his dream that summer and made the move from Leeds United to Barcelona, seeing Arsenal miss out on his services, which has become a rather painful memory in N5.
Raphinha continues to inspire Barcelona
Though it took some time for the winger to make a name for himself in Catalonia, the forward has become a guiding light for Hansi Flick’s squad.
Prior to Xavi’s exit at Barcelona, the former manager dubbed Raphinha ‘extraordinary’, praising the Brazilian after the 2023 clash with Manchester United.
“I’m the one who has trusted him the most. He’s the player with the most assists of the team. He scores, in 1v1 he’s daring more, he’s extraordinary,” Xavi told the media.
As time passes, it’s becoming more and more clear that Arsenal missed out on a world-class signing in Raphinha, who has 25 goals in all competitions and, is the Champions League’s second-highest scorer this season.
During the first leg of the round of 16, it was the former Premier League ace who earned the headlines, scoring the only goal in Barcelona’s 1-0 win over Benfica.
Arteta’s squad could’ve looked abundantly different had Edu’s conversation with Deco had a different outcome, in what was a painful miss for the Gunners.
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