Guillem Balague has made a claim about Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and Aston Villa boss Unai Emery.
The well-known Spanish football journalist has said that Unai Emery directly spoke to Mikel Arteta after the latter had taken charge at Arsenal.
Balague has claimed that Emery, now in charge of Aston Villa, told Arteta the things that he needed to do at Arsenal, including offloading Mesut Ozil and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
And, according to Balgue, the former Manchester City coach did those things.
Emery was sacked as the Arsenal manager in November 2019 after 18 months in charge of the Gunners.
The Spaniard was appointed the Arsenal manager in May 2018 after the departure of Arsene Wenger.
In December 2019, Arsenal appointed Arteta as their new manager.
Guillem Balague on Arsenal, Mikel Arteta and Unai Emery
Balgue said on The Monday Night Club show on BBC Radio 5 Live (broadcast from 7:30pm, October 23, 2023): “I was having dinner with Unai in Unai’s restaurant in Valencia.
“He had just left Arsenal.
“I said, ‘Why don’t you talk to the managers that are coming in? Why the managers don’t talk to each other because you have such an amount of knowledge here?’
“He said, ‘Well, we don’t tend to do that’.
“Hold on. So, I pressed a number. ‘Mikel Arteta here’.
“And they started talking.
“And four or five things that Unai told Mikel on that day were four or five things that Mikel ended up doing.
“So, it was not much he couldn’t deal with Ozil, Aubameyang or whatever, it’s just that perhaps he was unable to, but he knew that had to be dealt with, and eventually Arteta did that.”
Mikel Arteta and Unai Emery doing well now
Both Arsenal and Aston Villa are doing well at the moment, and Mikel Arteta and Unai Emery are enjoying success in their respective managerial careers.
Arsenal almost won the Premier League title last season.
The Gunners are challenging for the championship this time as well.
Arteta has transformed the culture at Arsenal and has built a team in his own image.
Arsenal have a young squad and play wonderful football.
Aston Villa are not going to challenge for the title this season, but there is a chance that they could push for the UEFA Champions League places in the Premier League table.
Villa are playing wonderful football under Emery, and the fans are happy.
Arsenal are third in the Premier League table at the moment with 21 points from nine matches.
Meanwhile, Villa currently find themselves fifth in the standings with 19 points from nine games, just a point behind Liverpool in fourth.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
