'Not good news' - Arsenal legend fears for Mikel Arteta future after Edu quits club

Arsenal legend Emmanuel Petit has demanded answers from former sporting director Edu after the 46-year-old suddenly quit his position at the Emirates Stadium earlier this week.

The Gunners' title hopes this season suffered another huge blow last weekend as Newcastle United beat Mikel Arteta's side 1-0 at St James' Park. Those woes were worsened on Monday as news broke that Edu would be walking away from the Arsenal project.

Edu leaves Arsenal role

The former midfielder has played a vital role in the development of the football club and worked alongside Arteta during his tenure to lead transfer recruitment. The Brazilian has played a key role in signing many current first team stars including Gabriel, Martin Odegaard, Ben White and Declan Rice.

Edu is now set to front the multi-club operation of Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis. That project includes Greek champions Olympiacos and Portuguese outfit Rio Ave.

Petit has given his opinion on Edu's departure and fears it may point to bigger issues behind the scenes at the Emirates Stadium. He told Instant Casino: "I've been reading the news, the bad news coming out of Arsenal this week. Edu is leaving the club. This is really bad news at this moment for Arsenal.

"In terms of communication, the messages you send to the dressing room, to the fans, the team has been struggling for the last few weeks and now you can see they are struggling at the boardroom level as well."

Petit went on to give his opinion on what the future may hold for Arsenal in terms of transfers. The Gunners could be left needing to recruit in January to boost any remaining hopes of challenging Liverpool and Manchester City for the Premier League title after a tricky start.

Petit fears for Mikel Arteta future

Petit said: "With Edu leaving the club, who’s going to take care of the transfer market? I just want to know why he left the club.

"For Arteta, Edu’s decision could have an impact on his future as well. He signed a new contract recently, but he was very close to Edu and they were doing a great job together. Arteta and Edu have been analysing the game in a very good way over the last few years.

"So, there a lot of questions to answer. When you have this confidence and connection between people, and you're doing a great job, you're excited about that and you want to go further up. You want to complete the mission. That's why at this moment, especially after a bad result at Newcastle, bad results in the last few weeks, the environment at Arsenal is not good at all. Edu’s departure is a huge blow for Arteta.

"For me, this is very important, why did he leave? I want to know why. It's very important because that could have a big impact on Arteta staying at the club and Arsenal’s long-term success. It's not good news for Arsenal and it’s not good news for Arteta."

The Arsenal boss signed a new contract in North London in September to keep him at the club until 2027. His previous deal had been set to expire at the end of the 2023/24 campaign.

Speaking at the time, Edu said that Arteta's contract gave the club "stability and clear direction as we aim for new heights".