Edu takes advisory role with Northampton Town's new owners

Former Arsenal director of football Edu will advise Northampton Town's new owners on sporting matters, with his involvement arranged as needed rather than through a daily role at the club. BBC Sport reported that co-chairman Joao Xavier outlined the arrangement at an open forum, following last month's takeover of the League Two side.

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Northampton are 23rd in the division and are now under the control of a Brazilian consortium that includes former Chelsea and AC Milan forward Alexandre Pato. The change of ownership brought Sports Alpha Capital in as the club's majority shareholder. Xavier told supporters that Edu would be available to help the owners address football-related questions when they sought his guidance.

Xavier said his relationship with Edu developed while the former Brazil midfielder was working at Nottingham Forest. He had asked Edu to help him understand English football, and described him as a senior adviser to one of the ownership group's partners. The arrangement at Northampton, he explained, does not involve Edu working on the club's sporting business every day.

Edu left his position as Forest's global head of football in September and has since joined the board at Bulgarian top-flight club Levski Sofia. BBC Sport reported that Levski's owner, London-based investment firm Gemcorp Capital, is also an investor in Sports Alpha Capital. Although that creates a connection between the ownership interests, Xavier said Northampton would not become part of a multi-club ownership structure and that no other club belonged to its project.

The advisory role follows Edu's six-year spell on Arsenal's staff before he moved to Forest. He became Arsenal's first sporting director in 2022, having previously played for the club and won two Premier League titles and two FA Cups. His playing career also included 16 appearances for Brazil.

At Arsenal, Edu brought Mikel Arteta to the club and oversaw most of the recruitment for the squad that won last season's Premier League title, according to BBC Sport. That championship ended Arsenal's 22-year wait. Northampton's owners will now be able to draw on that experience through the limited advisory arrangement Xavier described, rather than a day-to-day executive appointment.