Last night, during Globo’s broadcast of Brazil’s game against Chile, reporter Eric Faria came up with the information that Arsenal are in early talks to hire manager Tite.
His words were then followed by a story on their website which explained that the Gunners would be interested in having the coach at the club following his departure from the national team at the end of the year.
There are two reasons why the news wasn’t so strange for a Brazil audience. Tite recently confirmed he’ll leave his role after the World Cup, leaving the job after six and a half years, and will soon be open to a new challenge.
Then there’s also the fact that Edu Gaspar is a long-time friend of the manager. He worked as a director during Tite’s time at Corinthians and then with the national team as well. So it would be no surprise to see him indicating the manager’s name to Arsenal.
Now what made this story weird is, obviously, the good time Mikel Arteta is having with the Gunners. Not only that, but that’d mean the club would be planning to replace him only in December, and it’s quite unpredictable what will happen before then, especially with the team doing well lately.
Now following the big coverage this story is getting, it’s time for ESPN Brasil to come up with an update, this time with Arsenal turning down the rumours.
In a story signed by journalists João Castelo-Branco and Thiago Cara, it’s said sources from the Gunners have made clear there’s so far ‘nothing’ going on with Tite.
ESPN Brasil points out Arteta is maybe having his best time at Arsenal, and that’s why the news about Tite was taken with surprise in England. Still, the report recalls the good relationship between Edu Gaspar and the Brazilian coach, besides indicating that the manager has never hidden his wish of working in Europe.
Even though the original information undoubtedly comes with strange timing, we can’t deny how reliable Eric Faria is, especially coming up with this information during a national broadcast.
Now with Arsenal quickly dismissing the rumour, perhaps the idea of signing Tite in the future is just something on Edu Gaspar’s mind which ended up being leaked to the Brazilian media.
