Bengaluru, May 8: Arsenal's search for a technical director appears to be coming to a close as according to reports, former Gunners star Edu Gaspar is closing in on a return to the club as technical director signing a five-year contract.

The Gunners currently do not have anyone in the technical director role and earlier it was assumed that head of recruitment Sven Mislinat would take the position at the end of the season.

However, the German departed the club due to misalliance with the board which made the club look for a different name.

At one point transfer-guru Monchi and Ajax's Marc Overmars were said to be the leading candidates for the position, however, with both of them rejecting the proposal the Gunners are now said to have roped in the former Brazilian international.

Although reports in Brazil have claimed that he will take the post after this summer's Copa America, which concludes on July 7th.

Edu Gaspar is set to become new Arsenal technical director starting from next July, after Copa America (he currently works as general coordinator of the Brazil National Football Team). He’ll have a new meeting with #AFC soon to complete the agreement and then he’ll sign. 🇧🇷⚪️🔴

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 7, 2019

Edu's performance has been impressive since leaving behind an injury-plagued playing career. During his time at Corinthians, the club won the Copa Libertadores, South America's equivalent of the Champions League while working with his former manager in the National team, the Selecao also have been impressive lately - a firm favourite to win this year's tournament

Arsenal after missing out on Champions League football for the successive year certainly now look in need of a major shake-up as they remain behind so many of Europe's top clubs in terms of quality and management approach.

The Gunners are weighing up a for a big Summer transfer window which could see them offloading as many as seven players including the likes of Mustafi, Ozil, Mkhitaryan, Chambers etc and sign their replacement.

Edu will be the central point of overseeing such changes in the club including training practices, contract talks and player recruitment.

Although the former invincible winner right now looks a comparatively inexperienced candidate for such a big task, but many top clubs have gone down similar paths in recent times and have had success.

The Gunners fans would certainly hope for the similar feat and look to overcome the club's poor recent record in the transfer market.