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Edu departure leaves more questions than answers

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Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Edu Gasper’s shock announcement on Monday morning has left many Gooners confused and many more very angry. Edu was seen as a huge part of the ‘Project’, he was Arteta’s ally and a driving force behind the the attempt to overturn City’s dominance of the Premier League. No-one saw this coming, not a hint of what was to come over what was already a very bad weekend.

Fans woke up early on Monday morning to numerous online rumours which at first seemed barely credible, but slowly as the rumours became spread wider and wider across the web and fill the Social pages of channels such as now.afc, AFC Newsroom, AFTV and Arsenal News Channel it started to dawn on everyone that this was not just virtual tittle-tattle; it could actually be true. Then by mid-afternoon, the crushing truth emerged, it was a fact, the man responsible for the recruitment of most of the first choice players, including the captain Martin Odegaard, was indeed leaving.

The initial reaction from fans was that this couldn’t have come at a worse time with the team starting its usual October/November wobble and the squad suffering from the worst injury crisis in years. But as the news sunk, some of the more measured fans questioned whether the news was a bad as people were making out. The overriding sentiment from these fans was that although the club was in a much better place than just three short years ago, it still came up short twice and if anything the supposed final push to win the title in 2025 was withering on the vine. the team looks at least three players short of crossing the finish line ahead of City or even Liverpool. It’s clearly too soon for Mikel to go, but maybe something had to be done and maybe Edu saw this and jumped before he was pushed. Sure he’s ambitious and the rumoured tripling of his wages would have been hard to resist, but not many people believe that he would have taken a sidewards step to join the Group that owns among others Nottingham Forest and Olympiakos unless there was some issue at The Emirates.

Thoughts?

Image courtesy of Arsenal Football Club via Getty Images

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Simon Boynton - Managing Editor

Simon is a lifelong Arsenal fan who can date the start of the bumpy ride back to Saturday May 8th 1971 when, as a wide eyed six year old, he watched long haired local boy Charlie George smash the ball past a hapless Ray Clemence at Wembley to secure Arsenal the Double.

The following 18 years did not exactly run as he had hoped but he kept the faith and on the evening of St Michael Thomas Day saw the start of celebrations that lasted throughout the entire summer of 1989. Those almost barren years with only the Wembley victories in '79 and '87 to celebrate have left Simon with a far more circumspect view of the club's achievements than most modern day fans. He still celebrates every victory as if it was Arsenal's first and does not believe that the club has a divine right to win trophies.

He was lucky enough to live in Highbury opposite the old ground during the early Wenger years and his season ticket enabled him to watch virtually every home match between 1997 and 2002. Perhaps this accounts for Denis Bergkamp being his all time favourite player, although Liam Brady and Thierry Henry come very close.

Simon has worked on the commercial side of football and media for over 30 years and has been writing for Arsenal Mania for the last eight. Apart from Arsenal, he is well known for having no hobbies whatsoever and as such is happy to be labelled as the World's most boring man.

simon.boynton@gmail.com