Edu

Club

International

Edu initially considered playing for the England national team upon gaining a British passport as he did not think he would be picked for Brazil. He finally got a call-up to the Brazil national team in 2004 and made his debut on 28 April 2004 in a friendly match against Hungary. He played for them in the 2004 Copa América and 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, which were both won by Brazil. In the final of the Copa América 2004 he scored one of the penalties in the shootout as Brazil defeated Argentina.

Early career

Edu started his career in Série A with Corinthians. While with Corinthians, Edu won the 1998 and 1999 Brasileiro championships, and the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship.

Arsenal

After initially planning to join Arsenal in 2000, his transfer was put on hold after it was realised that he was in possession of a fake Portuguese passport. Months later, after qualifying for a European Union (EU) passport (aided by Italian lineage on his father's side), he signed for Arsenal on 16 January 2001 for £6 million. He had a turbulent time early on as his sister was killed in a car accident. His Arsenal debut came in 2001 in a goalless draw tarnished by an injury after 15 minutes against Leicester City. He had replaced Freddie Ljungberg at half time only to be replaced by Dennis Bergkamp minutes later. It was an unfortunate start and he only managed to play in four more matches for the club during that season, one of which was a 0–3 defeat at home to Middlesbrough in which he contributed an own goal. His first goal for the club came against Grimsby in the League Cup on 27 November 2001. He went on to make a substitute appearance in the 2002 FA Cup Final as Arsenal emerged victorious. He also contributed 14 league appearances, and a goal against Aston Villa, as Arsenal won the 2001–02 Premier League, with Edu becoming the first Brazilian to win the Premier League. In 2002–03 Edu made 18 appearances in the Premier League and featured heavily as Arsenal…

On 17 March 2011, Corinthians announced that Edu would take over from William Machado as the club's director of football. He also assisted Carlos Queiroz's Iranian national team during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. From 2016 to 2019, he was the general coordinator of the Brazil national team. On 9 July 2019, it was announced that Edu had become Arsenal's first-ever technical director. The club's director of football, Raul Sanllehi said: "We're very excited that Edu is joining the team. He has great experience and technical football knowledge and most importantly is a true Arsenal man. He understands the club and what we stand for to our millions of fans around the world." On 18 November 2022, Edu was appointed as Arsenal's first-ever sporting director. On November 4, 2024 it was reported that he was to leave his position at Arsenal to join and have a senior role at the network of clubs (Nottingham Forest, Olympiacos, Rio Ave FC) spearheaded by Greek businessman Evangelos Marinakis. His appointment as Global Head of Football was confirmed by Nottingham Forest on 7 July 2025. In March 2026 it was reported that he was told to stay away from the club training ground and facilities amid uncertainty over his future. On 14 September 2026, he was announced as a new member of the Board of Directors of Bulgarian First League powerhouse Levski Sofia.