Soccer

Arsenal set to appoint Unai Emery as new manager

46-year-old will arrive at the Emirates after two-year spell with Paris Saint-Germain

Unai Emery is set to take over as manager of Arsenal. Photograph: Charly Triballeau/AFP

David Hytner
Mon May 21 2018 - 20:54

Arsenal have moved to appoint Unai Emery, the former PSG and Sevilla manager, as the successor to Arsène Wenger.

The club have conducted a thorough process as they look to replace Wenger, their manager of almost 22 years, who departed at the end of this past season.

Mikel Arteta had been considered as the favourite for the past week or so, but the signs on Monday were that Emery, to whom the club have also spoken, was set to be chosen.

The 46-year-old is a safer bet in terms of his experience. Arteta, the former Arsenal player who is now a member of Pep Guardiola’s coaching staff at Manchester City, has not yet managed a team. Emery has been in the business since 2005, when he cut his teeth at Lorca Deportiva in his native Spain.

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Emery has since gone on to take charge of Almería, Valencia, Spartak Moscow, Sevilla and, most recently, PSG – clubs of mounting profile – and he has impressed Ivan Gazidis, the Arsenal chief executive, even though he is not fluent in English.

Emery is happy to work within the management structure that Gazidis has put in place at Arsenal, in which there are prominent recruitment roles for Raul Sanllehi and Sven Mislintat.

He enjoyed eye-catching success at Sevilla, where he won three consecutive Europa Leagues, and won a domestic treble this season with PSG, although relative failure in the Champions League cost him his job at the end of this season.

(Guardian service)

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