Two former Arsenal players linked as potential Edu replacements | OneFootball

Former Arsenal players Per Mertesacker and Tomas Rosicky have been put forward as potential candidates to replace the club's outgoing sporting director Edu Gaspar, reports in France claim.

The key club official confirmed his shock departure on Monday, explaining that it was "time to pursue a different challenge" despite being an "incredibly hard decision to make". It subsequently emerged that Edu would join the network of clubs run by Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, with reports suggesting that he has more than trebled his Arsenal salary.

The Brazilian executive is now serving a six-month notice period with reduced responsibilities while Arsenal begin their search for his potential replacement, and French publication Foot Mercato state that Mertesacker and Rosicky have emerged as two candidates.

Mertesacker has remained ensconced in Arsenal, becoming the club's academy manager in 2018 as soon as he retired following seven years in the first team. The towering German also had a temporary spell in the senior dugout as an assistant to Freddie Ljungberg at the end of 2019 before Mikel Arteta was appointed.

Rosicky overlapped with Mertesacker and Arteta at Arsenal, spending a decade under Arsene Wenger in north London between 2006 and 2016. The former Czech Republic international finished his injury-riddled playing career back at his boyhood club, Sparta Prague, which is where he has worked as a sporting director since December 2017.

Tomas Rosicky (left) and Per Mertesacker (centre) were both teammates with Mikel Arteta at Arsenal / Matthew Ashton/GettyImages

Arsenal have reportedly already approached Rosicky over the vacant role.

While the January transfer window hurtles over the horizon, the Gunners not expected to rush through the selection of Edu's replacement. Assistant sporting director Jason Ayto will fill the void in the short term, The Guardian report, but Arsenal are willing to wait as long as six months to find a successor, who will have to be approved by Arteta, executive vice-chair, Tim Lewis, and managing director Richard Garlick.

The unexpected shakeup in Arsenal's hierarchy has coincided with a poor run of form. Arteta's side have lost consecutive matches, slipping to a limp 1-0 Champions League reverse against Inter after also failing to score in last weekend's Premier League defeat to Newcastle United.

The Gunners travel to Chelsea on Sunday in desperate search of a victory to avoid potentially failing ten points behind the season's early pace setters, Liverpool.