Arsenal are set to appoint Unai Emery as their new manager after the Spaniard emerged as a late contender in the Gunners’ search for Arsene Wenger’s replacement.
Arsenal are set to announce their new manager who surprisingly is former PSG and Sevilla coach, Unai Emery. ESPN reports that the Arsenal board are convinced about the Basque-based coach’s credentials and would prefer him over the inexperienced Mikel Arteta.
Emery’s name as the front-runner has surprised a few in the last few days, considering everyone was more or less expecting former player and current Manchester City assistant Mikel Arteta to take over at Arsenal. Emery will reportedly sign a two-year deal at the Emirates and is set to be announced as the manager in the coming days.
Arteta was thought to be the outright favourite to become the new manager after hugely impressing the Arsenal board just last week. Its also believed that Ivan Gazidis favoured the move. However, the Arsenal board now are convinced Emery could be the man to lead them back to success and are in favour of a move for the experienced manager over Arteta.
Emery has credentials to back his appointment. Having won three Europa League titles during his time at Sevilla, as well as winning the 2017/18 Ligue 1 title, the table has tilted towards the Spaniard and is now set to be announced as the Arsenal’s new manager.
Since departing PSG this month, Emery was expected to return to Spain to reportedly take charge of Real Sociedad but has since had his head turned with Arsenal’s interest. His time at PSG is still not given the deserved credit, despite winning the league. His time there was judged by PSG’s performance in the Champions League in the last two seasons.
Arsenal have been thoroughly searching for a new manager since Arsene Wenger announced his decision to leave the club by the end of the season. Since Arsenal have been strongly linked with Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and Mikel Arteta, while these were just the players who have been part of the club and considerably inexperienced.
On the other hands, Arsenal were also linked with a host of big-name managers including Massimiliano Allegri and former Barcelona manager Luis Enrique. While Allegri decided to stay put in Turin, Enrique was thought to be interested in the job, but his astronomical wage demands have put off Arsenal.
Unai Emery is yet to be considered in the same bracket as many other elite coaches across Europe and in the Premier League. He is found well short of the likes of Jurgen Klopp, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola in terms of his reputation, while these have been the Premier League’s top managers this term.
It is still not official, but the announcement is set to be made in the coming days, but is he the coach that will take Arsenal forward post the Arsene Wenger era?
