Unai Emery sees Arsenal fail in bid to hijack £39m Liverpool deal – report

Posted by

Unai Emery is busy plotting how to enjoy a successful start to life at Arsenal next season, but he reportedly saw the club miss out with a late bid for one of their targets.

The Spaniard was appointed as Arsene Wenger’s successor earlier this month, as he’s now tasked with arresting the slide of the club as they missed out on the top four in the Premier League again last season.

SEE MORE: Unai Emery’s potential Arsenal XI with seven new faces if they land all their transfer targets, including surprise loan swoop

Their struggles would clearly suggest that the squad is in need of strengthening, and particularly as he’ll want to stamp his own mark on the team, Emery will hope Arsenal can bring in some of his preferred targets this summer to ensure that they get off to a positive start.

As noted by BBC Sport, Liverpool secured the £39m signing of Fabinho from Monaco on Monday, wasting little time in kick-starting their summer transfer plans to bolster their squad with the versatile Brazilian.

However, according to Sky Sports, Arsenal made a late bid over the weekend to try and prise him to north London instead which ultimately proved to be unsuccessful given the official announcement from the Reds.

Emery would have been fully aware of the 24-year-old’s qualities having come up against Monaco during his tenure with Paris Saint-Germain.

Nevertheless, whether it was due to the timing and being too late or perhaps being unable to convince Fabinho to snub a move to Anfield for the Emirates, Sky Sports suggest that they unsuccessfully made a late effort to sign him to give them a much needed boost.

The former Real Madrid ace can play in various positions from right-back to central midfield roles, and given those are two areas Arsenal arguably need quality and depth, they could be left to rue not moving quicker if timing was indeed the issue.

More Stories Fabinho Unai Emery