Nottingham Forest have told Edu Gaspar, their global head of football, to stay away from the club as his departure moves closer.
Edu’s turbulent tenure at the City Ground is approaching an end after less than eight months in the role, with Forest notifying him not to visit either the club’s training ground or stadium.
According to sources, Edu was not at Forest’s 2-2 draw with Manchester City on Wednesday night. It is the third successive match that the Brazilian has missed.
Forest appointed the former Arsenal sporting director in July but his time at the City Ground has proven difficult with four different managers and a number of poor signings made in a £200m spending spree.
Evangelos Marinakis, the club’s owner, was keen to use Edu’s experience to develop his portfolio of clubs, with the remit to “oversee all football-related functions, including recruitment, performance, squad strategy and player development”.
Yet it has been a disappointment and his departure is expected before the end of this season. Forest insist he is continuing to work as normal.
Former Forest manager Nuno Espírito Santo fell out with Edu weeks after his appointment. It was that relationship breakdown which is ultimately viewed as the major contributory factor behind Nuno’s sacking in September.
Nuno has since been succeeded by Ange Postecoglou, Sean Dyche and now Vítor Pereira. Dyche was sacked last month and has called the decision to dispense with him after 114 days in charge a “head-scratcher”.
He told The Football Boardroom podcast: “Our current form at that time was ninth in the Premier League.
“The stats and facts were there, clear as day. From my record, from when we got there to when we ended, we’d have been 12th in the Premier League.
“So on factual data and analysis, I can’t understand any of the decisions that were made. But football is changing, and we witnessed it.”
Forest are currently 17th in the Premier League table, outside the relegation zone on goal difference, and have nine games left to avoid relegation to the Championship.
Pereira’s team return to the Europa League next Thursday with a round-of-16 first-leg tie at home to FC Midtjylland.
