Arsenal have no regrets over snubbing Mikel Arteta for Unai Emery in 2018
Eighteen months after he was first
considered, Arsenal have appointed Mikel Arteta as head coach. And the club
have no regrets.
Arsenal head of football Raul
Sanllehi says there are no regrets at Emirates Stadium that new head coach
Mikel Arteta was not appointed ahead of Unai Emery in 2018.
Former captain Arteta was unveiled
as the new Gunners boss on Friday, leaving Manchester City, where he had served
on Pep Guardiola’s backroom team for three-and-a-half seasons.
The 37-year-old returns to London to
find Arsenal struggling in mid-table, having endured a tough start to the
season under Emery, who was sacked at the end of last month.
Emery arrived from Paris
Saint-Germain upon Arsene Wenger’s departure after the 2017-18 season, at which
point Arteta was also in the running for the role.
But despite the way Emery’s tenure
panned out, Sanllehi is still content Arsenal made the best decision they could
at the time, while backing Arteta as the ideal candidate for the club’s future.
Asked if there were regrets,
Sanllehi told reporters: “No, I do not like to look to the past.
“I like to look to the future, and
at that time, we made a decision with the information we had. It is not time to
regret. We made a decision conscious of what we wanted at that time.
“We are now conscious and convinced
of what we are doing now.”
Reports suggested City were unhappy
with the nature of Arteta’s move to Arsenal, although Guardiola and the club
wished the departing coach well.
Pictures emerged of Arteta meeting
with Arsenal officials days before the switch was completed, but Sanllehi
believes the Gunners were “very respectful”.
“In terms of the pictures, we didn’t
think it was such a great deal,” he said.
“We have been publicly explaining
openly we are in a process of looking for a head coach, and we have been seeing
many and in the houses of many. It just happened this time there was a picture
for whatever reason.
“I do not know if it was a neighbour
or someone following – I do not know and I do not care.
“In terms of Man City and given the
tight relationship between Mikel and Pep, we have been very careful, extremely
transparent and very respectful.”
Discussing Arteta’s aims, Sanllehi
said Arsenal “need to be in the Champions League” after failing to qualify in
the past three seasons. He added Arsenal would look to win the Premier League
“eventually”.
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