Edu Leaves Nottingham Forest After Turbulent Year in Charge

Edu’s time at Nottingham Forest is over, just a little more than a year after it began — and in truth, the end had been coming for months.

The Brazilian executive, hired as global head of football to front Forest’s ambitious multi-club project, has officially left the club, according to The Athletic. He had already been frozen out of day-to-day operations: he has not attended a match since February and has not been seen at the City Ground or the training ground since early March, when the first reports of his departure surfaced.

Forest are not planning a grand announcement. There will be no direct replacement, no big statement. Instead, Chief Football Officer George Syrianos has quietly stepped into the gap. His role has steadily expanded since Edu was sidelined, effectively absorbing the responsibilities that once sat with the former Arsenal executive. Syrianos’ growing influence also cushions the blow of Ross Wilson’s exit to Newcastle United last October, which had already thinned the club’s senior football structure.

The timing of Edu’s exit is impossible to separate from Forest’s chaotic season.

What began with genuine optimism — this was a club that had previously pushed for a Champions League place under Nuno Espirito Santo — disintegrated into a grim relegation fight. The relationship between Nuno and Edu fractured, and that breakdown proved decisive. Nuno left, and with him went the sense of direction that had underpinned Forest’s resurgence.

The dugout turned into a revolving door.

Managerial Changes

Ange Postecoglou arrived with a bold, front-foot reputation and lasted just 39 days. Sean Dyche followed, tasked with steadying the ship, only to be dismissed in February. Vitor Pereira came and went in a flash. Oliver Glasner, the former Crystal Palace manager, is the latest to be handed the reins, charged with restoring a consistency that vanished during Edu’s reign over football operations.

The instability on the touchline mirrored the uncertainty in the transfer market.

Edu’s recruitment strategy at Forest drew heavy fire from supporters and pundits alike. The club spent big and aimed high, but the return on that investment fell badly short. Omari Hutchinson, Douglas Luiz and Oleksandr Zinchenko arrived with serious reputations and expectations to match. None of them managed to impose themselves on the season in the way Forest desperately needed. The squad grew more expensive, not necessarily better.

For those who had watched Edu’s rise in North London, the contrast was stark.

At Arsenal, he had been a symbol of modern, joined-up thinking. Appointed as the club’s first technical director in 2019, he quickly moved to appoint former teammate Mikel Arteta later that year, a decision that reshaped the club’s trajectory. In November 2022, Arsenal promoted him to sporting director, a role he held until his surprise resignation in November 2024. His work there helped rebuild Arsenal’s squad and reputation, enhancing his own standing as one of the game’s sharpest executives.

Forest was supposed to be the next step in that upward curve. Instead, it has become the low point on an otherwise glittering CV.

As a player, Edu was part of Arsenal’s fabled 2003-04 ‘Invincibles’ — a midfielder trusted in one of the greatest sides English football has seen. Off the pitch, he built a substantial body of work before returning to Europe in an executive capacity. He spent five years as director of football at Corinthians, had a brief spell advising the Iran national team in 2014, and later served three years as general coordinator for the Brazil national team.

That breadth of experience made his Forest appointment look like a coup. A proven operator, a big name, a man trusted in boardrooms and dressing rooms alike.

Instead, his tenure at the City Ground will be remembered for churn: managers in, managers out, big names signed, big questions left unanswered.

Now Forest move forward with Syrianos at the forefront of football operations and Glasner in the dugout, still chasing the stability that has eluded them. Edu, once again, is on the market.

The only question is whether his next move restores the sheen that this bruising chapter has stripped away.