The manager Ian Wright wanted at Arsenal before Unai Emery proves that he was ahead of the curve

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Arsenal had a big job on their hands in the summer of 2018, when Arsene Wenger left the club.

The legendary Frenchman spent over two decades at the helm in the red side of North London, and he still remains the club’s greatest-ever manager.

Arsenal were linked with several names after Wenger left, and after a lot of consideration, Unai Emery was given the job in the summer of 2018.

Ian Wright, however, wanted someone else to take over from Wenger back then.

Ian Wright proved he is ahead of the curve with his stance on Mikel Arteta in 2018

Wright loves Arsenal just as much as all of us.

The Englishman is one of the club’s greatest-ever players. Even though he became a pundit after his playing career, he has never hidden his love for the famous red and white.

Wright absolutely adores Arsene Wenger, and he was naturally sad to see the Frenchman leave the club in 2018.

But, before the Gunners made the mistake of appointing Emery, Wright urged the Arsenal board to give Mikel Arteta a chance – just like how Wenger was once given the opportunity.

He said on Match of the Day in May 2018: “I quite like the feel of Mikel Arteta.”

Gary Lineker interrupted him and said: “No experience in management, I mean, he has been Pep’s number two…”

Wright replied: “You’ve got to take a chance on people – we took a chance on Wenger. I think he is somebody who knows the club. He has been under Pep for a couple of years, seeing what he’s been doing.

“I think those players need a little bit of a kick up their backside and I think he might be the man to do it.”

Arsenal ignored Wright then, but just 18 months later – after the Emery experiment failed – they turned to Arteta. That has been the Kroenkes’ best decision as the club’s owners.

Arsenal should’ve listened to Ian Wright’s advice

Arsenal went backwards under Unai Emery.

Yes, the Spaniard led the club to a Europa League final, but some of his signings set Arsenal back a few years.

The likes of Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Stephan Lichtsteiner and Nicolas Pepe among others all failed, and Arteta needed several windows to fix that mess.

If Arsenal had just listened to Wright and handed Arteta the job right after Wenger, the Gunners would’ve likely been in a much better place now.

Wright’s vision, however, deserves a lot of praise – he was ahead of the curve!