Edu joins Levski Sofia board just one week after leaving Nottingham Forest

Edu Gaspar has been appointed to the board of directors at Levski Sofia, the Bulgarian champions, just one week after officially leaving Nottingham Forest, where he had served as head of global football for approximately 14 months.

The 48-year-old Brazilian joins four other newly appointed directors at the Sofia club. His precise role has not yet been specified, but the newly formed board will convene to elect a chairman and an executive director at their next meeting.

“Throughout my life I have been used to making good decisions,” Edu said in a statement released by the club. “At the beginning I started to get to know the people in this project. I don’t know if you knew, but I spent a long time here to understand you, the club, the press. Then I started to work with you. Then they invited me to be a member of the board. When they invited me, I said to myself: ‘Why not?’ I am sure that I can contribute to this project. For me, it is a new country, new friends, a new owner. That makes me excited. That is why I am here.”

Edu had built a strong reputation in English football during a six-year tenure at Arsenal, which he joined as technical director in 2019 before being promoted to sporting director in 2022. His departure from the Gunners in November 2024 came as a surprise given the club’s upward trajectory under manager Mikel Arteta.

His time at Nottingham Forest proved far less productive. He had been absent from matchdays since February before the club confirmed his exit last week, with reports suggesting the role had not been what he envisaged when he agreed to take it on.

Forest, meanwhile, have collected five points from their opening four Premier League games this season and host Coventry City this weekend.