The 46-year-old left French side Paris St Germain at the end of this campaign following a two-year stint where he won one Ligue 1 title and four domestic cups, having led Sevilla to three successive Europa League trophies prior to that.
The Gunners are seeking their first boss since hiring Wenger in 1996 and the BBC claim Emery has emerged as their choice to replace him, with an announcement expected later this week.
Former Arsenal midfielder Mikel Arteta, currently part of Pep Guardiola’s backroom team at Manchester City, had been heavily rumoured to be the leading candidate and Wenger said last week the Spaniard “has all the qualities to do the job”.
Arteta, Luis Enrique and Juventus’ Massimiliano Allegri were among those strongly linked to the role and Emery has only been seen as an outside bet with bookmakers since Wenger’s departure was first confirmed last month.
BREAKING: Arsenal to appoint Unai Emery as new manager. Thorough process produced 46yo Spaniard as unanimous choice. Available after leaving #PSG (1 Lg1 title, 4 cups), previously Sevilla (3 EL wins), not fluent English. Announcement + press conference likely later this week #AFC
— David Ornstein (@bbcsport_david) May 21, 2018
Ian Wright, who scored 185 goals in 288 appearances for Arsenal, has accused the club’s hierarchy of being indecisive.
“It’s like they’re at the sushi shop,” he told 5 live on Monday night.
“You know the stuff that’s just going past? Yeah, I’ll have that. I’ll take that. I’ll leave them ones. No, I’ll take that one now.
“What’s going on at Arsenal? Where’s Unai Emery come from? I can’t get it out of my head.
“You’d have thought that by now they would have known exactly what’s going on. Unai Emery’s now the favourite? He’s going to be the manager?
“Good luck to him if he comes in and gets it. I’ll back him. The fact is you just want people upstairs to be decisive with what they’re doing. I think they’ve had the time. This is the problem I’ve got.”
Provided by Press Association Sport
