Unai Emery harbours severe concerns over four of the defenders he has inherited from Arsene Wenger.
The former PSG and Sevilla coach has set about rebuilding Arsenal’s rearguard this summer with the signings of Germany international goalkeeper Bernd Leno, experienced right-back Stephan Lichtsteiner and former Borussia Dortmund centre-half Sokratis Papastathopoulos.
Arsenal finished sixth last season, winning only once away from home following the turn of the year and conceded 51 goals in total.
According to The Sun, Wenger’s successor fears Shkodran Mustafi is not up to the job, while he is also said to fear the likes of Calum Chambers, Rob Holding and Konstantinos Mavropanos are not yet ready for regular first team football.
Chambers, who recently signed a new long-term deal, is reportedly on the verge of joining newly promoted Fulham on a season-long loan with Croatia World Cup star Domagoj Vida having been identified as a potential replacement.
The physically imposing Vida joined Besiktas from Dynamo Kiev for £8m January and the Turkish club have rejected a £13.5m bid from Liverpool already this summer.
Having invested heavily this summer and last January, when Mesut Ozil signed a new deal following the arrivals of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Arsenal must sell before they can submit a tempting offer for Vida.
Danny Welbeck is expected to leave before the deadline, while Aaron Ramsey could yet raise up to £30m if he fails to agree an extension to his contract which is due to expire next summer.
In 2008–09, his first season with los Che, Emery led them to a sixth place-finish, with subsequent qualification to the UEFA Europa League, in spite of the club’s serious financial problems. The team reached the round of 32 in the UEFA Cup, a 3–3 aggregate loss against Dynamo Kyiv, and the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey, exiting against Sevilla.
In 2009–10, Emery led Valencia to third place, so the club returned to the UEFA Champions League after two years. In the Europa League they lost in the quarter-finals to eventual winners Atlético Madrid on the away goals rule, and exited in the round of 16 in the Copa del Rey against Deportivo de La Coruña, losing 3–4 on aggregate. In May 2010 Emery renewed his contract for another year.
2010–11 started without David Villa and David Silva, sold to Barcelona and Manchester City respectively. Despite this, Valencia won five out of the first six league games (with one draw), starting the Champions League campaign with a 4–0 win in Turkey against Bursaspor, before being eliminated in the round of 16 by Schalke, and being knocked out in the same stage in the Copa del Rey by Villareal. In the domestic league the side finished third, thus again qualifying for the Champions League.
Emery left the club in June 2012, after again finishing third in 2011–12. On 13 May 2012, Leonid Fedun, owner of Spartak Moscow, announced Emery as the Russian club’s coach for the following two seasons.On 25 November he was sacked after a run of poor results, the last a 1–5 derby home loss against Dynamo Moscow.
Emery returned to Spanish football on 14 January 2013, replacing the sacked Míchel at the helm of Sevilla. He led the club to fifth position in 2013–14, his first full season, and, on 14 May 2014, won the Europa League final, defeating Benfica on penalties.
After finishing the 2014–15 season in fifth place, one point behind former club Valencia, Emery again won the Europa League after defeating Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, thus qualifying for the following Champions League. The victory meant that Sevilla became the most successful club in the history of the UEFA Cup/Europa League, with four wins, and Emery signed a one-year contract extension on 5 June 2015 which would have kept him at the club until 2017, after reported interest from West Ham United and Napoli.
In 2015–16 Emery led Sevilla to seventh position, having played the final games of the domestic league with several reserves and youth team players after the team confirmed their place in the Europa League final. On 18 May 2016, despite trailing 0–1 at half-time, a goal from Kevin Gameiro and two from Coke resulted in a 3–1 victory over Liverpool at St. Jakob-Park in Basel.On 12 June 2016, after Emery expressed his desire to leave Sevilla, the club announced that they would be parting ways.
On 28 June 2016, Emery signed a two-year deal, with the option of a third, to succeed Laurent Blanc at French quadruple-holders Paris Saint-Germain. In his first competitive match in charge, on 6 August, his side beat Lyon 4–1 in Austria to lift the Trophée des Champions. Emery led PSG to second place in their group of the Champions League, behind Arsenal. In the first knockout round they defeated Barcelona 4–0 at the Parc des Princes, only to historically lose 1–6 in Spain and subsequently be eliminated.
On 1 April, he picked up his second honour with les Rouge-et-Bleu with a 4–1 win over title rivals Monaco in the final of the Coupe de la Ligue. On 28 April 2018, Emery announced his decision to leave the Parisian club at the end of the season with a year left on his contract. He was replaced by German coach Thomas Tuchel at PSG following the conclusion of the 2017–18 season. On 23 May 2018, Emery was appointed as the new head coach of Arsenal.He agreed a two-year deal with the club.