Aston Villa have hired Unai Emery as their latest head coach to replace Steven Gerrard. So, where are the Spaniard’s first signings in charge of Arsenal now four years down the road?
The Gunners gave Emery his first taste of Premier League management in 2018 after firing club legend Arsene Wenger. But Emery only lasted 18 months in the role before returning to his homeland to take over Villarreal in 2020. There, he won the Europa League in 2020/21.
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It marked his fourth Europa League title after clinching three successive crowns whilst with Sevilla from 2013/14 to 2015/16. Emery also took Arsenal to the UEFA final in his first year in charge. But he did not add to his titles or ‘17/18 Ligue 1 crown with Paris Saint-Germain.
Aston Villa hire Emery to replace Gerrard after paying his Villarreal release clause
Aston Villa have now paid Villarreal £5m in compensation, per BBC Sport, to hire Emery as Gerrard’s successor. The Villans triggered a release clause in his contract at the Estadio de la Ceramica. But he will not join until November 1 once work permit formalities are finalised.
The 50-year-old will strive to enjoy a longer tenure at Villa Park than Gerrard, who stood at the helm for 11 months. Aston Villa fired the 42-year-old after a 3-0 defeat at Fulham last Thursday. It left the club with just two wins from Gerrard’s final 15 Premier League games.
Gerrard is the fifth shortest-serving manager in Aston Villa’s history at 40 games across all competitions. He only took 13 wins and eight draws whilst in Birmingham. Emery oversaw 78 games during his time at Arsenal for 43 wins – 25 from 51 in the league – and 15 draws.
Arsenal seldom backed Emery during his first transfer window after he replaced Wenger in north London. The Gunners only made five signings throughout the summer of 2018 and a further one in January 2019. Not one of those players is still at the Emirates Stadium now.
Emery did not keep two of his first signings in charge of the Gunners in the capital beyond the 2018/19 campaign. Mikel Arteta has since moved on his other four additions since the 40-year-old took over in December 2019. So, where are Emery’s first Arsenal arrivals now?
Emery made Lichtsteiner his first signing after Arsenal hired the Aston Villa boss
Emery made Stephan Lichtsteiner his first signing after Arsenal hired Aston Villa’s new boss to replace Wenger. The Gunners acquired the Swiss right-back as a free agent in June 2018 following his release by Juventus at 34 years old. But he only spent a year in north London.
Arsenal chose to release Lichtsteiner in June 2019 after his one-year contract expired. The 108-cap international had only played 23 games under Emery and would join Augsburg for a season. He then retired from playing in 2020 before becoming Basel’s U15 coach in 2022.
Emery paid his first fee after Arsenal hired the new Aston Villa boss to sign Leno
Emery first paid a fee to sign a player after Arsenal hired the now-Aston Villa coach to take Bernd Leno from Bayer Leverkusen for £22m. The German joined the Gunners to rival Petr Cech between the posts in north London and was Emery’s first choice by that September.
Leno remained the No.1 shot-stopper at the Emirates Stadium through to September 2021 before losing his position to Aaron Ramsdale. The 30-year-old featured 125 times across all competitions up until he joined Fulham for up to £8m on a three-year contract this August.
Arsenal backed Emery’s desire to sign Sokratis from Borussia Dortmund
While Arsenal did not make many signings during Emery’s first window in charge, the club backed his desire to land Sokratis Papastathopoulos. The Guardian noted at the time that the Greek was one of the Spaniard’s primary targets and joined for £17.5m at 30 years old.
Sokratis would go on to enjoy 69 appearances in the capital before Arteta shunned the 90-cap enforcer. He did not feature at all during the first half of the 2020/21 campaign before the Gunners terminated his £90k-a-week terms and he joined his current club Olympiacos.
Torreira would prove to be Emery’s biggest signing of the summer of 2018
Lucas Torreira would prove to be Emery’s most expensive transfer in the summer of 2018. He joined Arsenal from Sampdoria that July for £26m to serve as Emery’s midfield anchor. Yet after a promising debut season, the Uruguayan fell to the fringes during Arteta’s reign.
The 40-cap technician amassed 67 of his 89 Gunners appearances under Emery, including 50 in 2018/19, across all competitions. Arteta then shipped Torreira out on loan to Atletico Madrid for 2020/21 and Fiorentina in 2021/22 before selling him to Galatasaray for £5.5m.
Emery rounded out the summer of 2018 by signing Guendouzi from Lorient
Matteo Guendouzi joined Arsenal to round out Emery’s maiden transfer window in charge at the Emirates Stadium. The Spaniard paid Lorient £7m for the midfielder after a string of solid showings in Ligue 2 at 19 years old. He would show a lot of promise in England, too.
The Frenchman offered great promise with his passing at an early stage as he immediately earned a regular role. Yet Guendouzi was another of Emery’s signings whom Arteta did not have time for. He left for £9m in July after 82 games to join Marseille after a loan last term.
Arsenal only made one signing in January 2019 with a loan move for Suarez
Arsenal only added one player to Emery’s side during the January sales in 2019 with a loan deal for Denis Suarez. The Gunners paid Barcelona £2m for a short-term switch, agreed to cover his wages in full and also obtained a £20m option to buy, per the Evening Standard.
Yet Suarez would only feature in six games for a combined 95 minutes during his time with the Gunners. He also did not feature beyond March before suffering a pelvic injury and the one-cap Spain star admitted that summer that he did not feel right from his second game.
“At the end of the game [with Bate Borisov] I thought that I had torn my groin and they did a scan and saw that I had an oedema on the bone in my pelvis,” Suarez told Cadena SER, as quoted by The Guardian. “I thought I had torn something. I was in a lot of pain.
“And from then on I carried on training with medication and putting up with it as best I could. But I didn’t feel right, and Emery didn’t think I was right. I wasn’t comfortable. I don’t think I was even at 50%. After 15 days of being at Arsenal, I wasn’t right.”
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