Is this the guy who sanctioned 40m for Balogun?
Edu is leaving
daredevil 30m Euros up front for what it's worth. I still think they got a decent deal given the season he had at Reims.
That being said, it's looking a better deal for us as things currently stand.
Interesting that a couple of the names we've been linked to have been described as 'tough negotiator's. Wonder if it's a response to Edu's failings (or the external perception of his failings).
Don Pacifico way to think about it is this, Don. I’d Edu had sanctioned that deal to buy Balogun from Monaco, there’d be calls for his balls
Claudius is that more a reflection of budgets in the French league though? If a PL team paid that I don't think anyone bats an eyelid.
Don Pacifico tbf he looks to be doing well this season.
I was just catching up on how he's doing and I missed that on his first start for Monaco he missed 2 penalties 
Been linked with every man and his dog 
Sicario2 - Tier 1 that would be a big boy move, I guess.
12 days later
Louis Theroux is looking rough
- Edited
Based on my admittedly limited knowledge, I found this guy to be the least intriguing option mooted. Maybe it's my bias against the fact that he'll have no meaningful impact until next season but rightly or wrongly, I didn't feel his recruitment track record was overly impressive for a club of Sociedad's profile. Most impressive deals from my cursory check were buying and selling Isak & Merino. Doesn't feel that much with over six years in the job.
As we've got Merino, maybe we've brought him in to help with Isak (although again given he wouldn't join until the summer, his influence would be relatively limited I'd imagine)?
I think people put too much stock in transfer history, some of which can just be a good run/luck. They're not really there to be super scouts who find you bargains. What you want is someone who knows how to plan and build a squad and play a good supporting role for the manager. Sociedad's performance in general is probably a better indicator and they've done pretty well for a club their size.
goon yeah, the point about Sociedad's performance is a valid one.
On the recruitment point, I guess it's the general opaqueness about what a DoF does, which obviously varies club to club but my gut reaction was that looking at Sociedad as a club, I would expect a bit more focus on how to use recruitment to increase squad value cost-efficiently. I don't know if you'd expect more but my instinct was that we should.
I'm not sure someone from PSG is the man from the job.
Sicario2 - Tier 1 this is how we get Zubimendi
Edu's BBQ has a good in depth feature about Olabe out at the moment. It's a pretty skewed read (the blogger is a part time Sociedad anorak) but interesting.
What I took from it was that Olabe would be an alignment hire not an impact hire. He'd be coming from a football culture that's already informed the processes we have, and a club we already have close ties to. No surprises, and no challenges to Arteta's power base.
The other aspect is that Olabe has a very strong sales record at Sociedad, which is of course a selling club compared to what we are now ... but that's a set of skills we're really going to need.
4 days later
Edu leaves having given us summer 2023: Rice, Timber, Havertz and Raya. One of the best transfer windows in recent memory.
a month later
This is all turning a little too Wenger-like post-Dein.
Duncan Castles....
Certainly sounds like the reason Edu would prefer observers to think he moved on. With all his initial squad-building out of the way and no trophies to point to, the role had run out of upside regardless of Arteta. It was a strategic time for him to leave.
Burnwinter I'm sure quadrupling his salary had an influence too.
- Edited
Arsenal’s acting sporting director Jason Ayto has growing internal support to take on the role permanently. The club’s ownership has said to be impressed with his work and is viewed as a genuine contender for the vacancy.(@SamiMokbel81_DM)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5989219/2024/12/13/jason-ayto-profile-sporting-director/
no pay wall article: https://12ft.io/proxy
Mail, football london etc they are all running with story so I assume it will be official soon enough. So he was a scout here, then the chief scout then a Dwight like role for Arteta - Executive assistant of the manager. Now it looks like he will be sporting director
HomeSteak The Guardian were pitching Rosicky as the front-runner earlier this week so feels like there's some way to go before it's all resolved.
Don Pacifico has Rosicky any experience in a similar role? Seems to make more sense to promote Ayto.
Qwiss been doing it at Sparta Prague for a while and credited with helping get them back to winning the Czech league and into the CL.
2 months later
Andrea Berta aka the Godfather remember the name.
Sicario2 - Tier 1 Andrea Berta aka the Godfather remember the name.
Isn't he the guy that keeps signing Morata for Atletico? And fortunately for us, succeeded where we failed in bringing in Lemar for big bucks. With Joao Felix, at least it shows he brings in forward players, so that's something.
Meets my criteria: highly experienced at the top level of the game, touch of class, and he doesn't look like he'd be overawed by Arteta's current influence at Arsenal.
Burnwinter does he meet e foggin standards?
Burnwinter If you can deal with Simeone you can deal with Mikel.
Qwiss Spot on.
It's important we've got multiple strong, experienced and respectable characters in the decision-making process so there's adequate scrutiny and every fee and contract has its agreed rationale.
Arteta should never be taking all the heat on our signings, not even if they're his picks.
- Edited
Burnwinter yup. And we also need to have a hierarchy in place that can work without Arteta. Next season could be pivotal, if we win a big trophy he could be poached, if we fall to pieces he made need to be replaced. The most probable situation is he stays but we can't be caught out if he doesn't.
Exciting appointment. Has an eye for a striker that’s for sure
Would love this appointment. Looks like he can hang in big negotiations while also having an eye for good deals and market opportunities. He also definitely knew how to work with Simeone to identify players who would fit his play style. Need to get him in soon so he can start working on this summer ASAP.