Unai Emery’s time at Arsenal was not great at all.
The Spaniard was the chosen one after Arsene Wenger left the club in 2018. It was always going to be difficult to replace the legendary Frenchman, and Emery found that out the hard way.
Arsenal blew their chance of finishing in the top four, even though it looked easy in the final weeks of the campaign. Then, they suffered a humiliating defeat to Chelsea in the Europa League final.
That was followed by a disappointing start to the 2019/20 season, and Arsenal’s board decided that enough was enough. They sacked the Spaniard in November.
Despite that, many Arsenal players who played under Emery have a lot of respect for him. Alex Iwobi is one of them.
Alex Iwobi shares what Unai Emery privately told him after he was sold by Arsenal
Iwobi was a regular under Unai Emery in his debut season.
The Nigeria international, a product of the Gunners’ academy, was only a squad player under Wenger, but things changed right after the Spaniard arrived.
Iwobi played 51 times for Arsenal in all competitions in 2018/19, scored six goals and provided nine assists. He even found the net in the Europa League final.
The attacker has now revealed that he actually had no plans of leaving after that and was on holiday ahead of his return to the squad.
That was when he received a call from his agent to inform him that Arsenal had received an offer from Everton for him, and the Gunners had even handed over his medical files to the Toffees.
That came as a shock to Iwobi, who reluctantly accepted the move. What’s surprising now is that Emery wanted to keep the attacker, but the board decided against that for business reasons.
Iwobi said on The Inside Scoop: “I was staying in a hotel at the time (after joining Everton). Arsenal must have played Liverpool and were staying in my hotel. I come back from training and I see the whole team having lunch. I’ve gone to say hello and I spoke to Unai Emery.
“He said: ‘Listen, Alex, this is football. I didn’t want you to go. The last game was the Europa League final, I had you in my plans. You have always been someone who was willing to work for the team. I didn’t want you to go, but at the end of the day, this is business.’
“I said: “Yeah, there’s no hard feelings, it’s fine.’ He spoke to me on a level, that’s why I respect him. I’ll always have respect for Unai Emery.”
Were Arsenal wrong to sell Alex Iwobi?
Iwobi was a really talented player, and he produced some great performances under Emery in his first season at Arsenal.
However, the Gunners had just signed Nicolas Pepe for an eye-watering fee, and they needed someone to go out to balance the books.
Everton came in with a £40 million deal to sign Iwobi, including add-ons, and that was a big amount for a player who was not going to be a regular starter.
As much of a shame as it was to see Iwobi go, selling him was the right decision.
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