Unai Emery set to become next Arsenal manager after Mikel Arteta talks stall
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Arsenal are set to appoint the former Paris Saint-Germain and Sevilla manager Unai Emery as the man to replace Arsene Wenger. Emery, 46, departed PSG this summer after the club opted not to renew his contract following a two-year spell, instead appointing Thomas Tuchel as his successor.
Emery has been pushing for the Arsenal job since leaving PSG and met club officials earlier this month to hold preliminary talks about the possibility of taking over at the Emirates
Arsenal CEO Ivan Gazidis has been determined to complete as thorough a process as possible in the manager search, even while continuing talks with Arteta, and he has been persuaded by Emery given his pedigree.
The club are conscious of the supporters’ reaction to any appointment, and how relevant Arteta’s lack of experience is in that regard.
The older manager’s experience – having been so successful in winning knockout trophies at Sevilla, and then a title at PSG – is said to have persuaded the Arsenal hierarchy, compared to the fact this would be Arteta’s first job.
Sources close to the situation also feel that Emery would be a more amenable character, and more willing to work within the confines of the head coach role set in Arsenal’s new structure
Arteta’s negotiations were held up by discussions over his backroom staff and the extent of control he would have. Although talks have taken Arteta right to the brink of taking the role, an agreement has not been reached on any of the figures who would make up his coaching team. Arsenal had initially wanted to announce the staff all together, further delaying affairs.
Santi Cazorla had been expected to be one of the names who would join up with Arteta, having played together at the club for so long, but Arsenal on Monday evening instead announced the midfielder’s departure after long-term injury problems.
The Independent understands that there have also been snags over the kind of say Arteta would have in issues beyond immediate control of the first team.
