Edu Departs Nottingham Forest After Turbulent Year at the City Ground

Nottingham Forest have confirmed the departure of global head of football Edu, bringing an end to just over a year in the role. The Brazilian had effectively been sidelined for months, having not attended a match since February or set foot at the club's training facility since March, when reports of his impending exit first surfaced. His contract is understood to have been terminated.

Edu joined Forest in July 2025 after six years at Arsenal, where he had become the club's first sporting director in 2022, having previously won two Premier League titles and two FA Cups during his playing career with the Gunners. At Forest, his remit extended beyond the City Ground to include Greek side Olympiacos and Portuguese club Rio Ave, both also owned by Evangelos Marinakis.

His time in charge of football operations proved anything but smooth. Tensions came to a head following a public fallout with then-manager Nuno Espirito Santo, who was sacked last September as the first of four different managers to take charge of Forest across a single turbulent season. Nuno himself later suggested internal relationships had shifted, saying his own standing with owner Marinakis had changed in the lead-up to his exit.

The upheaval in the dugout was matched by struggles in the transfer market, with a number of high-profile signings during Edu's tenure failing to make the impact expected given the financial outlay involved. Forest ultimately found themselves fighting a relegation battle after once looking like genuine Champions League contenders under Nuno.

Forest do not plan to appoint a direct replacement for Edu, with chief football officer George Syrianos already having taken on much of the day-to-day responsibility in his absence. Syrianos' expanded role also fills part of the gap left by Ross Wilson's departure to Newcastle United last October. Edu's exit follows last week's appointment of former Olympiacos vice-president Theodore Giannikos as Forest's new chief executive, replacing Lina Souloukou, who stepped down at the end of last season.