Emery energy has got Gunners buzzing again

UNAI EMERY will inspire Arsenal to greatness with his enthusiasm, leadership and work ethic.

That is the view of managing director Vinai Venkatesham and director of football Raul Sanllehi, who believe he will put the Gunners in a position to win the biggest prizes in club football.

The pair are now in joint charge of running the club since the departure of chief executive Ivan Gazidis to AC Milan.

Discussing their vision of the future in the post-Arsene Wenger era, they insisted they have made the right choice appointing Emery.

After losing their first two league games of the season under the Spaniard, Arsenal went on an 11-match winning run in all competitions and are now unbeaten in 16.

Venkatesham said: “His energy is absolutely extraordinary. He said I think in his first press conference, ‘The one thing I am going to promise the fans is that I am going to work hard’.

“Obviously everyone thought that was just a throwaway comment but he is always on it. It is extraordinary. His work ethic is extraordinary.

“When you are on that long flight home from eastern Europe after a Europa League game and everyone is trying to get a little bit of sleep, he is watching the game, analysing it – all times, all hours.

“His energy levels! We had dinner with him on Wednesday and his energy and passion is infectious.”

Sanllehi, who previously worked with Pep Guardiola at Barcelona, added: “It’s contagious, in a good way. We wanted leadership, we wanted a team player.

“Unanimously we agreed that Unai Emery was the person that ideally would include all of the dimensions we wanted to lead this new project.”

When Wenger left, he claimed he was leaving behind a squad that needed only two or three signings to compete for the Premier League title.

But Venkatesham said: “We are trying to be realistic. There aren’t many examples of teams going from sixth, over 30 points behind the team that won it, to winning the league the next year.

“The most pressing thing is we want to get back in the Champions League as soon as we can.

Bigger

“That is where this club needs to be as an absolute minimum.”

But at the same time Venkatesham, who has been with the club for eight years in a variety of roles, is aiming bigger than that over the long term.

Arsenal fans have criticised the club’s self-sustaining business model which has allowed rivals to out-spend them year after year.

Venkatesham said: “We believe we have the robustness in our business model to make the decisions we need to make. But I understand why we get the questions.

“This is a club that hasn’t won the Premier League for a long time and hasn’t won the Champions League.

“The only way we’re going to be able to answer the questions is by having the Premier League or Champions League trophy here. All I can tell you is I believe we can get there.

“But I’ll only be able to prove that to you when the trophies are on the table.”