Rio Ferdinand shares his honest verdict about what he thinks of Edu at Arsenal

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Rio Ferdinand has shared his honest verdict on the work Edu has done at Arsenal as the Gunners once again find themselves in Premier League title contention.

Edu was appointed as Arsenal technical director back in 2019, before his role was changed to sporting director three years later.

It has been a dramatic few years at the Emirates. Arsenal finished eighth in the Premier League in his first two years back at the club. Meanwhile, Unai Emery was replaced by Mikel Arteta in the dug-out.

Rio Ferdinand praises Edu for work he has done at Arsenal

Arsenal should have finished in the top-four in the 2021/22 campaign before falling at the final hurdle. And they took another giant step forward last year, leading the way for most of the season.

Of course, Arteta has taken a lot of the credit for their improvement – and rightly so. The Spaniard is in contention to become the first boss to win the Premier League title in his first managerial job.

But speaking on Vibe with Five, Rio Ferdinand responded to being told a number of the players Arsenal have moved on – including Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papastathopoulos – by praising the Brazilian.

“Your recruitment was wild,” he said.

“Edu’s done great. I’ve got to be honest, Edu’s done really good.”

Gunners now need to take that final step

There is absolutely no question that Edu and Arteta have done brilliantly together. The challenge is now going to be taking that final step and winning further honours.

Arsenal won the FA Cup in Arteta’s first few months in charge. But they have not quite been able to replicate that success since.

They are undoubtedly a much better team now. Anyone who looks at that starting lineup from Wembley will probably be shocked.

But expectations have now risen. And with that, Arsenal now have to make sure that they bring home silverware to ensure that this era is remembered as fondly as it should be.