3 Deals Completed: Rating Unai Emery’s First Dealings As Arsenal Manager

Since Unai Emery has been appointed Arsenal manager, the club has made three significant moves in terms of players and from this we can start to see the style that the new man wants to implement at the club. In this article, we take a look at each deal and grade it.

1 – Stephan Lichtsteiner

Emery completed his first deal as Arsenal manager at the end of May, signing former Juventus defender Stephan Lichtsteiner on a free transfer.

An experienced defender, captain of Switzerland with 100 caps and more than 200 appearances for Juventus. He may be 34, but the tactical nous and experience he can add on and off the pitch will certainly be important. It’s good to see Emery notice our lack of depth at fullback and it is not a foregone conclusion that he will be back up to Bellerin, with the young Spanish defender struggling for form recently. Hopefully, the arrival of Licht will push Bellerin to improve, and you’d hope he’ll learn a thing or two from Lichtsteiner who can play as a traditional right-back or as a wing back if we revert to a 5 at the back formation.

Head coach Emery said: “Stephan brings huge experience and leadership to our squad. He’s a player with great quality with a very positive and determined attitude. Stephan will improve us on and off the pitch.”

2 – Ainsley Maitland-Niles Extension

Emery clearly views Maitland-Niles as a key part of the team and that excites me. When A new man arrived I was worried what he might make of certain players I like, you never know, but he clearly sees the potential in Ainsley. On signing a new contract the player said the following:

“You don’t really hear a lot of young players being shouted out by their managers, especially a new manager who hasn’t really seen them play too much,” Maitland-Niles told Arsenal Player. “I think it’s brilliant to hear from him and it gives me a load of confidence.

“It feels fantastic knowing that I’m going to be a part of the squad, and a big part of the squad. It means a lot with the new head coach coming in and Arsenal tying me down [with a new contract]. I’m very pleased.

“We had a little meeting. He said that he wants all of his players to work hard and I’m no stranger to doing that. It will be second nature to me.

“I think [the high-pressing game] suits me a lot, too. I’ve got a lot of pace to give to the team, pressing up high and winning the ball back as soon as possible is a major factor in football.”

3 - Granit Xhaka Extension

Granit is a bit like Marmite, some fans seem to hate him but fans that don’t hold grudges will see him in a different light. The midfielder has a lot of potential and has perhaps been the teams best player in 2018, at least in the top three for me. He’s improved lots already during his time at the club and under Emery I’m excited to see how much more he can develop. It’s good to see the new manager agrees:

“I’m delighted that Granit has extended his contract with us. He’s an important member of the squad and is still young so will be able to develop even more. I hope he has a successful World Cup with Switzerland and comes back fit and ready for the new season.”

This is a bit of a ‘wait and see’ deal – if Emery can get the best out of Xhaka and sign a midfielder like Lucas Torreira to get the best out of him, then this extension could be a 10, but for now I’m going to rate it a 7/10. I’m definitely happy with it, but time will tell if Xhaka was worth the extra investment, I think he will be.