3 hours ago
3 
Arsenal have reportedly set a target of appointing a new sporting director in March, with five names still in the frame for the job.
The Gunners need to find a replacement for Edu as sporting director, with Jason Ayto currently filling in in that role and hoping to land the job permanently.
That’s according to the latest from the Athletic, who also claim that there are four other names in the frame for the job.
The report says Arsenal are also considering Real Sociedad’s Roberto Olabe, Atletico Madrid’s Andrea Berta, Monaco’s Thiago Scuro and former Manchester United and Newcastle chief Dan Ashworth.
Who should Arsenal hire as their new sporting director?
Dan Ashworth during his time with the England national team (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)Arsenal won’t find it easy to replace Edu after the Brazilian’s fine work alongside manager Mikel Arteta, with signings such as Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice and Gabriel Magalhaes proving hugely instrumental in turning the team’s fortunes around in recent years.
There are plenty of strong candidates on that list of names, with Olabe doing well to unearth some fine talents at Real Sociedad, while Berta has helped Atletico Madrid over-achieve against their far wealthier rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona for the last decade.

 
Still, it will be interesting to see if Arsenal turn to Ayto as he’s worked alongside Edu before, so might be a strong candidate to carry on with his work.
Ashworth would be an interesting choice after he had such a difficult spell at Man United, though that followed fine work at clubs like Newcastle and Brighton that earned him a strong reputation in the game.
