When Arsenal set about replacing Arsene Wenger in the spring of 2018, a long list of potential candidates was eventually whittled down to just three names: Massimiliano Allegri, Mikel Arteta and Unai Emery. Emery’s involvement in the interview process was not public knowledge at that time, and his eventual appointment caught many off-guard. The outsider had landed the job. We’re now 16 months into Emery’s reign, and yet this curiously unknowable Spaniard still feels like precisely that: an outsider.



If you allowed Arsenal fans to wind back the clock and put themselves in Ivan Gazidis’ position, how many of them would still plump for Emery? Allegri stayed at Juventus and coached them to another Serie A title; Arteta stayed at Manchester City alongside Pep Guardiola and helped them to one of the most impressive Premier League wins in the competition’s history. Emery’s Arsenal are still battling to get back into the Champions...