Edu has officially left Nottingham Forest, a little over a year after joining the club as global head of football.Sources close to the club, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, said Edu’s contract had been terminated.The Brazilian has not attended a match since February and has not been at the stadium or training ground since early March, when The Athletic first reported that he was due to leave the club.Forest do not plan to replace Edu, nor announce his departure, with Chief Football Officer George Syrianos having already stepped up to a more senior role in the wake of the 48-year-old being sidelined, as well as the departure of Ross Wilson for Newcastle United in October last year.Edu was appointed in July 2025 following five years at Arsenal. His position had also encompassed the other clubs across the Evangelos Marinakis football empire, namely Greek side Olympiacos and Portuguese outfit Rio Ave.Edu’s position had come under scrutiny at Forest following a chaotic season last term, with the team embroiled in a relegation battle and having four different permanent head coaches over the course of the campaign. The team had been competing for a Champions League spot under Nuno Espirito Santo the previous term.The Athletic reported in August that there had been a falling out between Nuno and Edu, which ultimately became the catalyst for the Portuguese coach to depart in September 2025.Ange Postecoglou was subsequently appointed, but his reign lasted just 39 days before Sean Dyche was named as his replacement. Dyche departed in February, and Vitor Pereira was appointed his successor. Pereira has since been replaced by Oliver Glasner, the former Crystal Palace head coach.Before his time at Forest, Edu had joined Arsenal as the club’s first technical director in 2019, during which time he hired fellow former Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta as head coach in December. He was appointed as Arsenal’s first sporting director in November 2022, and resigned from his position in November 2024.Edu’s recruitment for Forest has also been scrutinised, with the likes of Omari Hutchinson, Douglas Luiz and Oleksandr Zinchenko struggling at the City Ground.Edu, a member of the 2003-04 ‘Invincibles’ team as a player, previously spent five years as Corinthians’ director of football, followed by two months as the Iran national team’s advisor in 2014 and three years as the coordinator of the Brazil national team.AnalysisEdu has not been seen at the City Ground since the early months of this year – the last Nottingham Forest home game he attended was in February, when Liverpool were the visitors. He has, effectively, not been working at the club since springtime.So confirmation of his departure does feel like a formality in one sense. It was always a case of when, rather than if, an official end was brought to his short tenure as global head of football.The appointment of Edu – in the summer of 2025 – to work across recruitment, performance, squad strategy and player development was intended as a statement of intent.Edu had built an impressive reputation with his work at Arsenal, and Forest felt it was an appointment that could take the club up another level, at a time when they were preparing for a return to European football, having qualified for the Europa League.But it was an appointment that never worked out for either party. Edu was not involved in the appointment of Oliver Glasner as head coach in July, as Forest head into what they hope will be a positive new era under the Austrian.The club have no plans to replace the Brazilian, who saw a role across the three clubs in the Evangelos Marinakis football empire effectively created for him.