Arsenal

Ian Wright "very pleased" with Unai Emery appointment

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 23 May 2018

Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright thinks that the Gunners made the right choice in appointing Unai Emery as Arsene Wenger's successor.

Ian Wright has praised former club Arsenal for appointing Unai Emery as their new manager and admits that he is "very pleased" with the decision.

The Spaniard emerged as a late contender for the job of succeeding Arsene Wenger in the Emirates Stadium hotseat, having only officially stepped down as Paris Saint-Germain boss last weekend.

Ex-Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta had been considered the frontrunner in the build-up to Emery's eventual appointment on Wednesday morning, and Wright says that he was surprised by the late change of mind.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, the 54-year-old said: "I'm very pleased with that. Obviously it came as a bit of a shock. I feel everybody was getting ready to digest Arteta, even though he is inexperienced when it comes to the level we are going to need. But Emery - very happy with that.

"I think it's a massive, massive decision they had to make. As much as I've given them stick, I still have to commend them on hopefully getting the right guy because it's a job I wouldn't want to do. Replacing Arsene Wenger after 22 years is a massive job in itself.

"We need our players competing and fit - and with a different mindset from what they've had in recent years. I'm not sure what his transfer budget is going to be. It looks like he's going to have to do a lot of work with what he's got.

"I think there's been a lot of time to sort this out. I think it's easily been known for a couple years that Arsene Wenger was getting to the stage that he'd be retiring. You would've thought all these things would've been taken care of - they would've sought these people out, spoken to all them and found out what their packages were."

chief executive Ivan Gazidis has vowed to sufficiently back Emery during the summer transfer window.