Arsenal’s Edu Gaspar was among the individuals recognised at the 2023 Golden Boy awards ceremony, having been crowned the best sporting director this calendar year.
The former invincible has impressed since returning to Arsenal in a management role, and has been widely credited for providing coach Mikel Arteta with a squad that pushed the eventual treble winner Manchester City right to the wire in the Premier League last season.
Edu rejoined Arsenal in 2019 as a technical director, and was appointed as the club’s first ever sporting director in November 2022.
In recent transfer windows, Edu has been heavily involved in the signings of England international Declan Rice from West Ham, as well as Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City last season and captain Martin Odegaard from Real Madrid in 2021.
During his acceptance speech, Edu said he was grateful for the support network that is in place in North London. He also joked that his Juventus counterpart Cristiano Giuntoli was ‘too tough’ to deal with when asked about the January transfer window.
“There is no success without support,” Edu said in Turin on Monday night.
“I am so happy to be here and to receive this award, I want to share this recognition with the whole club and all the team at Arsenal who help me and have faith in me.
He continued: “The youth teams today are very important, they are fundamental to support the costs of a big club, to build players and to build economic resources, you can’t just afford to buy players. This is the strategy I support.
Asked whether he has had any discussions with Giuntoli ahead of the January transfer window, Edu replied: “No, he’s a tough guy, too tough for me to deal with him.”