Edu is set to leave his position as Nottingham Forest’s global head of football, just eight months after his arrival at the City Ground.
The Brazilian was appointed in the position in July 2025 having previously been the sporting director at Arsenal, a role he left in November 2024 after five years at the Emirates.
Forest’s season has been chaotic, with the club onto their fourth permanent manager of the campaign and Edu’s position coming under scrutiny in recent weeks as a result.
Edu — who works across the Evangelos Marinakis football empire, which also includes Greek club Olympiacos and Portuguese outfit Rio Ave — has not attended Forest’s recent games, including the 2-2 draw with Manchester City on Wednesday night.
The Athletic reported in August that the 47-year-old did not see eye to eye with Forest’s then-head coach Nuno Espirito Santo and there was a falling out that would become the catalyst for the Portuguese coach to leave the club.
Nuno had signed a new contract on June 20 and was expected to work under Edu, the new global head of football for Marinakis’ football empire — Forest, Greek club Olympiacos and Portuguese team Rio Ave — but the former Wolves manager quickly became uncomfortable with the new structure.
Nuno left his role on September 8 with Ange Postecoglou replacing him the following day for a 39-day reign that ended on October 18. Forest’s third head coach of the season was confirmed as Sean Dyche on October 21.
There was a short uptick in form under Dyche, but Forest decided to make another managerial switch in February with Vitor Pereira appointed as the club’s fourth manager of the campaign with the backdrop of the club just one place above the relegation zone.
Though Edu was not a big influence in either head coach appointment this season, the transfers he has overseen have put him in the spotlight. He was also an influence in the arrival of loan signings Oleksandr Zinchenko (Arsenal) and Douglas Luiz (Juventus).
Forest, who are in the Europa League last-16 stage, are 17th in the Premier League, above West Ham United and the relegation zone on goal difference only.
Edu at the heart of Forest’s chaotic season
The first domino to fall at the start of an already remarkable campaign was the departure of Nuno Espirito Santo in September.
The Portuguese was already making his frustrations known in July, when he was upset over the speed of the club’s recruitment drive, which left him with only a handful of new additions on the pre-season training camp in Portugal – which Nuno regarded as being a vital part of preparations.
The subsequent very public erosion of his relationship with the club’s hierarchy had Edu at the heart of it. It culminated in the man who had led Forest back into Europe for the first time in 30 years departing under a cloud.
Since then he has been followed by Ange Postecoglou and Sean Dyche, as the mood of uncertainty that had been sparked in the summer increasingly began to be reflected on the pitch.
Edu oversaw a £200million recruitment campaign, which eventually saw Forest make 13 new additions, many of whom have failed to make an impact.
Oleksandr Zinchenko and Douglas Luiz – two signings that were influenced by Edu – saw their loan spells terminated early, while Arnaud Kalimuendo was farmed out to Eintracht Frankfurt on loan, after failing to impress Dyche. Lorenzo Lucca, a January loan signing from Napoli, is also among those to have struggled to make a mark.
Igor Jesus has had an important role to play in the absence of Chris Wood through injury. His fellow Brazilian Jair Cunha continues to show his promise in defence. And Omari Hutchinson – the club record £35m signing from Ipswich – looks like a young man with potential.
But the appointment of Edu was meant to be a statement of intent by Forest; it was a moment that was regarded as being a line in the sand. Forest had managed to lure a man who had built a solid reputation for himself across Europe at Arsenal to the City Ground.
His arrival was meant to signal that Forest were ready to move up to the next level as a club, as they returned to Europe for the first time in three decades.
Instead, there remains a danger that the campaign could end with them moving down a level in a different sense.
