Arsenal Edu replacement candidate drops major hint about next job

Roberto Olabe, who has been linked with the vacant sporting director's post at Arsenal, has admitted his future remains undecided and that his decision to depart the same role at Real Sociedad was not so he could join another club.

With results on-field taking a bad turn as of late, Arsenal have been further rocked by the unexpected resignation of Edu Gaspar. The sporting director was an integral cog in the machine operated by Mikel Arteta to get this club back to the point of fighting for major honours.

Gunners co-owner Josh Kroenke accepted Edu 's decision and said that his successor would be appointed with winning trophies in mind. In the weeks that have passed, one of the latest to be tied to the possibility of taking over is Real Sociedad's Olabe.

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The 57-year-old just yesterday confirmed he will be stepping back from the duties he has undertaken at the La Liga club over the past six years. Before that his other experiences total to over two decades in Spanish football, and his current role has earned him serious attention due to work in the transfer market that has allowed La Real to win the Copa del Rey, plus qualify for the Champions League.

As a result, naturally in the early stages of Arsenal's search for a new sporting director Olabe's name has been floated as the ideal candidate. Spanish reporter Mikel Recalde even claims that the Gunners are 'very interested' in acquiring the man's talents.

However, at a press conference today Olabe has stated that his next venture remains yet to be decided.

"The very structure of the decision is not based on the future," he began. "If in June 2024 we talk about June 2025 and we give ourselves a timing in which I give my commitment to continue working in a season that is not easy to manage, for me it would have been easier to say in June 2024 to say up to here.

"Afterwards I need to listen to other conversations, from other areas, learn about other projects, observe other things to possibly reconnect. I don't know what it will be, I don't have anything, I don't have a date for anything. The dates for everything are the ones we have discussed. There has been nothing external that has influenced that timing."

Another interesting aspect of Olabe's potential appointment is the recent revelation that Euro 2024 winner and Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi is rumoured to be on Arteta's radar.

The 25-year-old rejected rivals Liverpool to stay with his boyhood club during the summer, and they too are said to maintain an interest.