Dan Ashworth has emerged as a potential target for the vacant position of Arsenal's sporting director.
This is mainly due to his good relationship with Arsenal director Richard Garlick, and because he suddenly became available after leaving Manchester United.
The pair worked together at West Brom until Ashworth joined the Football Association in 2012 and have maintained a friendship ever since.
Ashworth's departure from United, which was confirmed on Sunday, has added his name to the list of candidates to replace Edu at the Emirates.
However, it is premature to see Ashworth as the frontrunner in a process that the club is taking time to consider and implement.
Edu's previous number 2 Jason Ayto has stepped up as interim sporting director and is also seen as a full-time candidate for the role.
Outgoing Real Sociedad sporting director Roberto Olabe is another name in the frame, due to his good relationship with manager Mikel Arteta.
Sky Sports News has already reported that PSG's Luis Campos is another name under consideration.
Arsenal are in no rush to appoint anyone before the upcoming January transfer window and are more likely to have someone in place ahead of next summer.
The club is considering their medium to long term strategy and who would therefore suit the club and the job of leading them forward.
Edu resigned as sporting director in November to oversee Evangelos Marinakis' club, which also includes Nottingham Forest.
Why didn't it work out for Ashworth at Man Utd?
Sky Sports News' Melissa Reddy speaks on the Transfer Talk podcast:
“I heard it from the club [Man Utd] ultimately that Ashworth is too passive compared to the others.
“He did not take command of his department and the areas under his jurisdiction, and he did not operate in the way that the hierarchy wanted, and in the way that Omar Barada, Jason Wilcox and Christopher Vival have done.
“They felt he was the odd one out and didn't perform as they expected him to.
'And the opposite of that is that Ashworth felt like he was being left out of a lot of important decision-making processes.
“Many of the areas he commanded had other hands involved, so he didn't get the chance to put his stamp on them.
“Things he had suggested in terms of collaboration and how to improve the culture of the club were vetoed.
“Even little things like Sir Jim Ratcliffe have gone a long way towards making United so far behind in terms of recruitment, and especially in terms of analytics in recruitment.
“So if Ashworth were to advise bringing in a really good external analytics firm to come and help the club, that would go down, and he's in a position thinking, well, you want better analytics, we've got that not at this time.” this can help us in the short term.
'Conflicting messages there, but it's pretty clear that the relationship, the format and the structure didn't work.
“Then you have to ask yourself, after pursuing this man so fiercely and making such a fuss about him, his appointment: what did you think you were getting? Because the Dan Ashworth who arrived at United is exactly the Dan Ashworth who is at United been.” all other clubs.
“He is a very good organizational head. He has never claimed to be a transfer guru or at the forefront of analytics, but he is very good at connecting things and setting up a long-term strategy. There are a lot of questions surrounding INEOS 'running the club'.
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