Edu links up with Marinakis: How Olympiacos can benefit from new club chief after Arsenal success | OneFootball

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It's the dawn of a new age for Olympiacos - well, not just Olympiacos...

Edu Gaspar seems set to overlook all of Evangelos Marinakis' football clubs, which includes Nottingham Forest, Rio Ave, Thrylos 7 International fans' favourite team and Monza - I mean, probably a Serie A club.

Edu's new role is not yet confirmed but sources suggest he could become CEO with his wages tripled under Marinakis. Nevertheless, the Brazilian director will be undertaking a similar job description that was initially touted for Antonio Cordon.

Many have already jumped the gun with the same old chestnut suggesting the 46-year-old has only linked up with the Greek businessman to focus on Forest and give the others whatever scraps they can get.

But that's not exactly true, and since this is an Olympiacos blog page we will focus on how the Greek giants could benefit from Edu's arrival:

As I mentioned in the most recent Thylos 7 International episode, despite all the Financial Fair Play madness, the fans still concentrate on men in boots rather than men in suits.

However, if the latter was a main focus for diehard fans then it would be very reasonable to expect Eleftherios Venizelos Airport to fill up with supporters giving Edu a reception similar to Rivaldo in 2004. Because when it comes to sporting/technical directors, the Brazilian has proven to be among the best in the world.

Edu returned to Arsenal, where he competed as a player for four years and won two Premier League titles - including the famous Invincibles triumph - and three FA Cup trophies, in 2019.

And he quickly turned the Gunners from - what rival fans would start calling them - Banter FC to genuine Premier League, and even, Champions League contenders.

The North Londoners went from top-four outcasts to just missing out on the Prem title the last two seasons. With the help of Mikel Arteta at the helm, Arsenal also won the FA Cup in 2020 as well as two Community Shield honours.

But how did he do that? Well, firstly he showed massive stones by deciding to stick by an inexperienced and unproven manager, who had nothing much to show except the fact he worked as Pep Guardiola's assistant at Manchester City. And together they completed a dramatic clearout that saw them offloading all the heavy contracts belonging to underperforming superstars like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mesut Ozil.

Instead, they focused on young and hungry players, such as Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, William Saliba and Martin Odegaard. They also managed to snatch blockbuster signings from their biggest rivals, such as Declan Rice, Riccardo Calafiori, Thomas Partey and Jurrien Timber, while giving second chances to talented players that were unfairly sidelined from their previous clubs, like Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kai Havertz.

Olympiacos can expect some quality signings out of the Premier League giants' former director, however, there were also a few strikeouts along the way, like David Luiz, Nicolas Pepe and, well, Willian...

However, this is part and parcel of the job - let's look at Man City's outgoing sporting director Txiki Begiristain and reminisce on the likes of Alvaro Negredo, Eliaquim Mangala, Wilfried Bony and Nolito...

Edu, though, managed to succeed in something far more critical and that is restoring confidence as well as positivity within the squad. He won over the players, created a smooth bridge between the team and the boardroom and formed a brilliant partnership with Arteta.

Therefore, there is very good reason to expect Edu and Olympiacos manager Jose Luis Mendilibar to get along. And his cooperation with the Kroenke family, who own a majority of Arsenal, shows promise ahead of his collaboration with Marinakis, with whom he apparently has a very good relationship.

Thrylos can certainly expect new signings, but more importantly they can anticipate some swift departures if things on the pitch don't change immediately. That means no one is safe, despite how heavy their contract is. Therefore, it would be a good idea for the likes of Dani Garcia, Roman Yaremchuk, Sergio Oliveira, Willian and Kristoffer Velde to start picking up the pace.

Edu and Arteta also enjoyed a brilliant cooperation with the academy that saw the likes of Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly earning a place in the first team throughout the years.

That is music to Olympiacos fans' ears after a brilliant season that saw the youth team snatching the UEFA Youth League trophy with the likes of Christos Mouzakitis, Babis Kostoulas, Isidoros Koutsidis, Antonis Papakanellos and Theofanis Bakoulas shining bright - and all of them have proven to be far more qualified for the first team than many of the summer's signings.

And Edu has proven to be a very warm, calm and open person that inspires an open-door policy to his office, something that will certainly come in handy amid the paranoia that we call Greek football.

Those are only some of the reasons why Arsenal chiefs, fans and players were unhappy to see the club director go - Arteta couldn't have been thrilled either as he lost his strongest ally. And unlike recent rumours, there was no fallout between Edu and the club hierarchy. Instead, this was all his decision.

And as my co-host Costas Levoyannis correctly pointed out, this project he's about to undertake is in no way a downgrade as he will be in charge of at least three different clubs, especially at a time when FFP is taking over and spares no one. Olympiacos will be in very experienced, talented and capable hands - let's not forget that the English press doesn't spend much air time or column inches on random suits, but they did get all over Edu's shock exit from Arsenal that almost everyone have described as a negative development for the club.

If Edu is allowed to work independently and do his magic then Olympiacos, Nottingham Forest and Rio Ave are in for a major treat. However, it is important to mention that as good as Arsenal are, the Brazilian has never had to deal with this kind of challenge. And much will depend on how he gets organised, who he brings in for the important roles and how he responds to his new surroundings that will be completely different to the Premier League.