Edu to advise Northampton Town's new Brazilian owners
Former Arsenal director of football Edu will act as a senior advisor to Northampton Town's new Brazilian owners, helping with sporting questions on an ad hoc basis.
Edu, the former Arsenal director of football, will serve as a senior advisor to the new owners of League Two club Northampton Town, co-chairman Joao Xavier confirmed at an open forum event. Xavier said Edu would help the club navigate sporting questions when asked, rather than on a day-to-day basis.
The Brazilian consortium that completed its takeover of Northampton last month includes former AC Milan and Chelsea forward Alexandre Pato. Xavier said he was proud to have both Pato and Edu involved, explaining that the two became friends through Edu's role at Nottingham Forest, where Xavier sought help learning about English football.
Edu left his position as Nottingham Forest's global head of football in September. He has since joined the board at Bulgarian club Levski Sofia, which is owned by London-based investment firm Gemcorp Capital. That firm is also an investor in Sports Alpha Capital, the group that has become Northampton's majority shareholder. Xavier said Edu advises Levski Sofia for one of the club's partners and performs a similar advisory role at Northampton.
Xavier also addressed concerns about the club's ownership structure, stating that Northampton will never be part of a multi-club ownership model and that no other club is part of the project.
Edu spent six years at Arsenal and became the club's first sporting director in 2022. He brought Mikel Arteta to the Emirates Stadium and oversaw most of the recruitment of a squad that won the Premier League title last season, after Edu had won two league titles and two FA Cups as a midfielder with the Gunners. His Forest tenure drew scrutiny following a disagreement with Nuno Espirito Santo, who was sacked last September, the first of four managerial changes at Forest over the 2025-26 campaign.
Northampton currently sit 23rd in League Two, and the new owners will hope Edu's experience can help steady the club's sporting direction.
Image: Getty Images / BBC Sport
