Arsenal have officially confirmed the appointment of Spanish head coach Unai Emery as their new head coach, but in a twist CalcioMercato have revealed that he wanted to join another club before accepting Arsenal’s offer.
Former PSG and Sevilla boss, Emery, 46, replaces former manager Arsene Wenger after spending 22 years at the helm and left French champions PSG after winning the Ligue 1 title.
MORE: Who is Unai Emery? Background and career honours as Spaniard takes Arsenal job
The Spaniard also won four domestic cups with the French giants, but it is arguably his time with Sevilla where he is best remembered, having guided them to three successive Europa League triumphs.
However, according to the Italian news outlet Unai Emery wanted to join Napoli before accepting Arsenal’s offer.
As per The Guardian, former Chelsea and Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has put pen to paper on a two-year deal with the Serie A club on a reported salary of €6m (£5.27m) a season, with Maurizio Sarri’s future said to be in doubt.
The Guardian state that Ancelotti will replace Sarri after he guided Napoli to second place in Serie A, finishing with 91 points and four points behind Scudetto winners Juventus.
However, CalcioMercato revealed Emery was interested in joining Napoli two weeks ago and as per the report, the Spaniard was intrigued to take up a new challenge in Italy and offered himself to take over from Sarri as head coach.
Things could have played out differently at Arsenal if he Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis had accepted Emery’s reported offer and we may have seen Mikel Arteta installed as head coach instead given he was favourite to over at the helm in north London, according to BBC Sport.