Arsenal have found their new manager, just their second since 1996, and again there is a French connection. Unai Emery, who led Paris Saint-Germain to a dominating run through France’s Ligue 1 this season, is your new Arsenal boss according to multiple reports. David Ornstein, of the BBC, writes that “Emery emerged as the unanimous choice following a recruitment process in which all candidates were spoken to.”
The 46-year-old native of the Basque country in Spain replaces Frenchman Arsene Wenger, who stepped down after 22 seasons in charge at the club.
News that the job is going to Emery was quite surprising, given how over the weekend Mikel Arteta was firmly the front-runner. Some reports had Arteta moving closer to getting the gig, with Thierry Henry emerging late as a potential candidate as well.
However, Unai Emery is the choice, and he brings with him a very strong CV. He led Sevilla to three Europa League titles, and PSG to a domestic treble this campaign. Paris let him go however because he just couldn’t get them over the UEFA Champions League hump, despite all the heavy spending on players such as Kylian Mbappe and Neymar.
Real Madrid knocked PSG out in the round of 16.
At Arsenal the expectations will be entirely different, as they are a side which will need a substantial amount of rebuilding.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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