Arsenal technical director Edu has publicly defended the club's activity in this summer's transfer market.
It has been a far from ideal start to the 2021/22 campaign for Mikel Arteta's side. The North London club have suffered defeats against Brentford, Chelsea and Manchester City in August.
In addition to their lacklustre performances on the pitch, some have pointed towards the club's strategy in the summer market, with fingers being pointed at former Gunners midfielder Edu, who oversees the 'efficient strengthening' of their squad.
Arsenal spent over £150 million on six players in the current window. The club bought centre-back Ben White for a reported £50 million, while a deal to sign midfielder Martin Odegaard from Real Madrid was said to be worth £31 million.
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Mikel Arteta's side also signed Bologna defender Takehiro Tomiyasu on transfer deadline day for a reported £17 million but despite a hefty net spend of £121 million, results on the field have been abysmal, although Arsenal's technical director Edu is optimistic.
In a rare interview with Sky Sports, the Brazilian touched on numerous subjects, including the suggestion that Arsenal had an 'underwhelming' transfer window, despite spending more than any other team in the Premier League.
Responding to suggestions that fans were indeed underwhelmed, Edu said: "Yes, I understand the reason because firstly, they have not seen the team playing together yet. That's one of the reasons but I think we have to see the wider context than just to see the money around it.
"We signed six players who are under 23, which means a lot in terms of our planning. Normally, people like to see just one window, so I have to say it is the bigger picture because we started planning this squad a year ago in terms of consolidating the team and to try to get a better foundation.
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"If you remember, in that period we renewed Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli a year ago with the intention to get that kind of base in the team. In a one-year period, we signed 10 players and seven of the 10 are under 23. We renewed seven players in this period as well, just in the first team. Five of the seven are under 23 as well.
"Why did we do that? Because we have a reason to try again to create a good foundation and then, one day, maybe we are going to sign one or two players only. But after that, it's impossible to sign one or two players only because we have a lot to do.
"We have to balance the squad better. We have to recruit the players with the right characteristics and the right profile to make the squad better, more solid and much more consistent because last season we suffered with consistency.
"Now, I want to give Mikel Arteta and the board a much better squad."
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Questions have been raised about additions this summer, with Martin Odegaard and Ben White being the only 'first-team starters' but Edu believes the signings bring more squad depth.
Last month, the daughter of Edu Gaspar revealed the sheer amount of abuse she receives on Instagram amid Arsenal's struggles, and the hurt it brings.
"Look at everything my father was won, look at everything that he's done," Maria said on her Instagram story.
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"I know about his potential. I'm not here to talk about that. But sometimes, reading this stuff, it hurts a lot. But we have to get used to this life, right. In life, there are ups and downs.
"My father has been on this life for a while, from criticism to praise, he's used to it but I am not. It hurts a lot, but we will learn [to get used to it].
"Everyday, I used to answer people on DMs, and some have asked why I stopped doing so. I can't open my DM's anymore because it's full of abuse, I don't have a lot of patience.
"My head is not right at the moment to explain why they're abusing my father."
Topics: Football, Premier League, Arsenal
