Pressure on Arsenal’s Edu Gaspar to Secure Priority Transfers: Will Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo Sign?

Arsenal sporting director Edu Gaspar, along with director of football Richard Garlick and vice-president Tim Lewis, are under pressure to ensure priority transfers reach the club on time.

FootballTransfers has learned that Arsenal’s key managers are in the spotlight after the owners made significant transfer funds available to them, to the tune of around £200m.

Edu was promoted in 2022 from Technical Director to become the first sporting director in Arsenal’s history, he could find his job at stake if he fails to bring in priority signings like Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo.

Personal terms have been agreed with both players. Rice reached an agreement in recent days, while Caicedo agreed terms with Arsenal in January.

But Chelsea are pushing hard to sign the Brighton man and the latest reports suggest the south London club are willing to pay Brighton’s £80m asking price.

Arsenal infamously missed out on signing priority January target Mykhailo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk when Chelsea hijacked the deal in the last hour.

Although that may turn out to be a blessing in disguise given Mudryk’s terrible start for Chelsea, the owners or fans will not stand for Arsenal failing to complete transfers.

Declan Rice

The recent quotes made by Rice and Caicedo stating that they want to play in the Champions League next season should certainly put Arsenal as favorites to sign the midfield pairing.

This is because the main contenders for both players, Chelsea and Liverpool, are not in the Champions League in 2023-24.

Liverpool are in the Europa League after finishing fifth, while Chelsea are out of Europe altogether after finishing twelfth.

Therefore, Edu and his transfer team will not be viewed positively from above or by the supporters if they fail to convince their main transfer targets to join this summer.