In the end, Unai Emery’s time in charge of Arsenal ended in disaster. The Gunners had missed out on a place in the Champions League once again, and the Emirates was becoming more and more of a toxic place – the incident with Granit Xhaka during the Crystal Palace game last season was a testament to that.
One thing the Spaniard did do however, was give some opportunities to a few of the club’s young talents, with Bukayo Saka in particular reaping the rewards of his manager’s faith.
The now England international played 15 times under Emery, scoring once and providing four assists too, and he was never shy in praising the former Arsenal boss for the work he did in developing him.
He said earlier this year: “For starters, I just want to say I have to mention Unai Emery because of the amount he believed in me. The opportunities he gave me. I’ll forever be grateful for them.”
But whilst Emery holds a lot of credit for the way he exposed Saka to first-team football at the Emirates, the same cannot be said of how he allowed another young starlet in Yunus Musah, to leave the club.
The 17-year-old has been touted as a “phenomenon”, and by starting for new club Valencia earlier in September, he became the first English player to represent the Spanish side.
Musah spent seven years with the Gunners before making the move to the Mestalla in the summer of 2019, and has also captained England from U15 to U18 level. The fact Emery had the academy product on his books, but failed to convince him that a route to the first-team was on the horizon, is a major blunder on the Spaniard’s part.
The north London side could have had yet another Saka-esque success story, but instead, are watching on as he makes waves in La Liga.