Unai Emeri’s time with Arsenal was not a merry one. The Spanish manager had tough time replacing Arsene Wenger, but in reality, any manager in the world would have found it difficult to do that, yet alone Emeri. Another difficulty at the time was that immediatelly after Wenger departed, the squad still had the Gunners „DNA“ and the fans and management expected to be competitive, so Emery’s eight place in the end of November 2019 was not acceptable. It was the club’s worst run of results since 1992, and the Gunners found themselves 8 points short of the Champions League spot.📆 A year ago: Unai Emery is sacked with Arsenal 8th in the Premier League on 18 points.📆 Now: Arsenal are 14th in the Premier League on 13 points.Is Mikel Arteta really the man for the job? 😳 pic.twitter.com/AlAn87t5X5— Goal (@goal) November 30, 2020 Arsenal finished at the same spot this season, six points short of the Champions League and no Europe games after 25 consecutive years but still, Arteta wasn’t sacked. Clearly, the management know their place now, or don’t have the same ambition as in 2019. Anyway, during the Emeri reign, the Gunners said goodbye with no less than 18 players, and the time is good to recapitulate where are they now.Jack Wilshere – A promising player with an injury record, but Emery still wanted to keep him on pay-to play basis. Wilshere was again a regular at Wenger near the end of the Frenchman’s tenure at Arsenal, and thought he could command a much better contract elsewhere, than pay-to-play. He ended up in West Ham as a free agent, but injuries again took it’s tool and he was released following several more injury problems. After again being a free agent, Wilshere signed for AFC Bournemouth on a short term contract but was released at the end of the 2020/21 season.Another Arsenal target: This striker is better than HaalandSanti Cazorla – A player everybody loved, including Emery, but his countrymen asked to be released from his contract in July 2018, due to career-threatening injuries, and nobody could do anything about it. He returned to Emery’s current club Villareal, and played so good, he got a call to the Spanish national team. After that, he signed for Al Sadd to play under Barcelona legend and former teammate Xavi.Aaron Ramsey – The Welsh international was one of the few players that Emery let go and (probably) regretted. As Wilshere, the Welshman was a free agent and signed for Juventus after 11 years in Arsenal. But, unlike Wilshere, Ramsey signed for a bigger club, won Serie A titles, but didn’t played as much as he hoped for.Arsenal on the offensive: 6 billion Ksh for White, 8 for CamavingaLaurent Koscielny – Arsenal captain who was a bit of Jackil and Hyde: the fans loved him, but some of his mistakes….Anyway, the Frenchman decided to ’push’ the club to sell him to Bordeaux, and there were not so many tears when he left for Ligue 1, where he still plays.Danny Welbeck – Another injury phone talent who was let go, and the Gunners never regretted. Welbeck went to Watford, but the club was relegated the following season, so he ended up in Brighton, where he plays regularly when he is not injured, showing the glimpses of his former self. Good for Brighton but in reality not for Arsenal.Former Barcelona playmaker regrets leaving Arsenal: Arsene Wenger was like a father to meStephan Lichtsteiner – A former Juventus regular was brought in to steady the defense, but he only lasted one year. Not many clubs called for his services, so he signed for Bundesliga 1 strugglers Augsburg and soon retired after nearly 20 years as a professional.Alex Iwobi – One of rare win-win situations. Emery sold the promising winger for 5.1 billion Ksh to Everton which paved the way for talented Saka to enter the squad. Arsenal don’t have to regret about this, as Iwobi never blossomed in Everton, while Saka just made his England appearance in EURO 2020.Arsenal in pursuit of two surprising signings – African-rooted youngster and newly capped English stopperJoel Campbell – One of plenty Arsenal talents who never seemed to get a decent chance, and after six loans in seven years, Emery decided he was no good for the Gunners. And he was right. After selling him to Frosinone in 2018, Campbell failed to impress and prove the Spaniard wrong, as he made just 11 starts before being loaned to Mexican outfit Leon, where he is a regular now.David Ospina never got the chance with Emery, as he was loaned to Napoli in the Spaniard’s first year in charge. In 2019, the move was made permanent and Ospina became a first choice keeper under Gennaro Gatusso. Academy players Arsenal lost in recent years:🇩🇿 Ismaël Bennacer moved to Empoli for 1M€🇩🇪Serge Gnabry moved to Werder for 5M€🇫🇷Jeff Reine-Adélaïde moved to Angers for 1,5M€🏴Josh Dasilva moved to Brentford for free🇺🇸Yunus Musah moved to Valencia for freeTalents. pic.twitter.com/CfsasbHMC4— Football Talent Scout – Jacek Kulig (@FTalentScout) June 4, 2021 Nacho Monreal was a surprise move by Emery and Arsenal, as the Spaniard had a good career so far. He went to Real Sociedad, won the Spanish Cup in his first year and continued with good performances, raising the question among the fan base: Why was he sold in the first place?Carl Jenkinson certainly lived his childhood dream of playing for Gunners, but Emery didn’t allow him to continue with the dream and Jenkinson went to Nottingham Forrest, where he failed to settle due to inconsistent play and injuries.Krystian Bielik, Takuma Asano, Josh Dasilva, Gedion Zelalem, Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Chuba Akpom and Lucas Perez are other players which didn’t suit Emery and he was right for all of them, except Reine-Adelaide, who he sold to Angers for 300 million Ksh but then the French club sold him after only a year to Lyon for 3.6 billion.
