Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has opened up over Unai Emery’s sincerity and openness in a conversation they had before he took his place at the Emirates.
Arteta – who took over from Emery in 2019 – is set to come up against him in the Europa League semi-final on Thursday.
And the current Gunners boss has revealed how the former Gunners boss helped him when was offered the job.
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Arteta said: “I spoke to him before I took over at the club and he was really helpful. He offered me that opportunity which is sometimes unusual. He was very sincere and open. I was very grateful for that.
“He is a very experienced and successful manager – in the Europa League in particular with what he has done. So there is no doubt that he has the tools and knowledge to manage at the top level.
“That relationship [between Emery and Arsenal] existed and we cannot go against it. Unai knows the club really, really well and we know Unai as well and what he did before he joined here and what he did at the football club and that’s it.”
Arteta has also had his say on the statement released by the Arsenal owners which insisted they had no intention of selling the club.
The statement read: “In recent days we have noted media speculation regarding a potential takeover bid for Arsenal Football Club,” read a KSE statement.
“We remain 100 per cent committed to Arsenal *and are not selling* any stake in the club.
“We have not received any offer and we will not entertain any offer.
“Our ambition for Arsenal remains to compete to win the biggest trophies in the game and our focus remains on improving our competitiveness on the pitch to achieve this.”
Arteta was pleased with the response: “It closes a lot of the speculation regarding what could happen because they moved straight away and made very clear lines of their understanding and what they want to do with the football club,” he said.
“We spoke to them and I think it was very clear. They have shown their commitment and ambition to the football club because we all want a successful team on the pitch. It was very clear and took any doubt out of the situation.”
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