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Raul Jimenez wants manager Nuno Espirito Santo to stay and finish the job at Wolves. Nuno is among the favourites to replace Unai Emery at Arsenal after he was sacked by the Gunners on Friday.
Nuno has guided Wolves to fifth in the Premier League and into the last 32 of the Europa League. They drew 3-3 in Braga on Thursday to qualify from Group K and Jimenez is eager to keep hold of his in-demand manager.
“There is speculation but we are going to keep working, be the team we want to be and making him better and us better,” he said. “He is a very good manager. We all know that and we have been making good things since we got into the Premier League – and when I was not here they won the Championship – we are working well.
“He is very important for us, every meeting, every time he speaks with us it’s important.”
Nuno refused to discuss the links, saying it would be disrespectful to Emery, before Thursday’s draw in Braga.
He won the Championship in 2018 and guided Wolves to seventh in their first season back in the top flight.
Show all 24 1 /24In pictures: Unai Emery's time in charge of Arsenal In pictures: Unai Emery's time in charge of Arsenal Unai Emery's Arsenal reign in pictures Farewell to the funny faces, the exaggerated gestures, the curious midfield tinkering - the Unai Emery era is over.
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In pictures: Unai Emery's time in charge of Arsenal Beginnings Officially appointed the successor to Arsene Wenger on 23 May 2018, Unai Emery brought fresh hope at the end of the Frenchman's long spell at the helm.
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In pictures: Unai Emery's time in charge of Arsenal Exploring his new home It was to be an 18-month lease rather than 20-year mortgage for Emery, but he initially presented a confident and competent figure in his new job.
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In pictures: Unai Emery's time in charge of Arsenal Leafing through the history books Emery was probably hoping he would have a slightly longer chapter in the re-issue.
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In pictures: Unai Emery's time in charge of Arsenal The 2018/19 squad A fine crop of players with which to work for Unai Emery, and a chance to build a new identity at the Emirates.
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In pictures: Unai Emery's time in charge of Arsenal False start Hardly a vintage beginning. Defeat to Chelsea followed an opening day loss to Manchester City, and Arsenal's first Premier League campaign with Emery at the tiller had begun poorly.
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In pictures: Unai Emery's time in charge of Arsenal Off the mark A first win in the Premier League came swiftly, however, Danny Welbeck on the scoresheet in a 3-1 victory over West Ham.
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In pictures: Unai Emery's time in charge of Arsenal 22 games unbeaten Emery soon stumbled upon a particularly successful formula, going unbeaten in September, October and November to assemble a 22-game unbeaten run.
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In pictures: Unai Emery's time in charge of Arsenal Unbeaten run ends A Charlie Austin winner for Southampton, and the 22-game unbeaten run, the zenith of the Emery era, was over.
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In pictures: Unai Emery's time in charge of Arsenal Emery and Ozil A relationship that was never particularly rosy, with Ozil in and out of the side for various reasons throughout Emery's time in charge. The manager never got the best out of his marquee creator.
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In pictures: Unai Emery's time in charge of Arsenal Crystal Palace 3-2 Arsenal After opting to rotate his squad amid a busy fixture schedule, Emery saw his Arsenal side beaten at the Emirates by Crystal Palace in a serious blow to Arsenal's top-four hopes.
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In pictures: Unai Emery's time in charge of Arsenal Brighton end top four hopes Arsenal stumbled to the close in the Premier League as they jostled with Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham for a top-four spot, but a 1-1 home draw with Brighton meant even a final day win was not enough to take a Champions League place.
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In pictures: Unai Emery's time in charge of Arsenal Fresh focus As Arsenal's league form faded, focus turned to a Europa League campaign of real promise, with the Gunners grinding their way through the rounds to reach the final.
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In pictures: Unai Emery's time in charge of Arsenal Chelsea win Europa League It was not to be in Baku for Arsenal as Chelsea lifted the Europa League trophy.
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In pictures: Unai Emery's time in charge of Arsenal What might have been... Might Emery still be in charge had Arsenal secured the Europa League crown?
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In pictures: Unai Emery's time in charge of Arsenal Nicolas Pepe signs A fresh toy for Unai Emery to play with, adding the dangerous Ivorian to the already potent forward force at the club.
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In pictures: Unai Emery's time in charge of Arsenal A solid start to the second season Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's goal secured a 1-0 opening day win over Newcastle as Arsenal began Emery's second season in charge well.
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In pictures: Unai Emery's time in charge of Arsenal Off-field relationships strain But the seeds of discontent had been sowed, and rumours of issues within the dressing room emerged, with Emery supposedly becoming a figure of ridicule. Relationships with key players strained, including captain Granit Xhaka.
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In pictures: Unai Emery's time in charge of Arsenal Watford 2-2 Arsenal A horrible performance against a side then winless, Arsenal threw away a two-goal lead and were fortunate to hold on to even a point, with Granit Xhaka admitting they were "scared". Not ideal.
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In pictures: Unai Emery's time in charge of Arsenal Xhaka stripped of captaincy And Xhaka's outburst against Crystal Palace saw him stripped of the captaincy, exacerbating the leadership issue within a squad already lacking in totemic figures.
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In pictures: Unai Emery's time in charge of Arsenal Blades chop Arsenal down It had all the makings of an upset, a cold, wet Monday night in Sheffield, an Arsenal side low on confidence, a Sheffield United side anything but. Nicolas Pepe missed a sitter, Lys Mousset did not, and Arsenal were plunged into further bother.
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In pictures: Unai Emery's time in charge of Arsenal Further woes As the end drew near problems on-the-field only got worse. Arsenal were tactically naive and completely lacking in verve or vigour, and a winless run had stretched to six games as Arsenal prepared to face Eintracht Frankfurt.
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In pictures: Unai Emery's time in charge of Arsenal The final game A sparse crowd and a dreadful performance in a game few cared about as Arsenal fell to Europa League defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt, and the final nail in the coffin on Unai Emery's tenure. He departs Arsenal with a record of 43 wins, 16 draws and 19 defeats.
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In pictures: Unai Emery's time in charge of Arsenal Farewell... Unai Emery arrived at the Arsenal training ground ready to take training. He left without a job. One year and six months after his appointment, Emery was sacked.
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Record £32m buy Jimenez has been crucial to the Portuguese manager and netted his 15th goal of the season at the Estadio Municipal.
He also set up Matt Doherty and Adama Traore to give Wolves a 3-1 lead after Andre Horta’s opener only for Paulinho and Fransergio to level in the second half.
Jimenez added: “It’s something good for me, I scored 17 last season so at the beginning of this season I said I wanted to go over that.
“I’m three goals away and it’s still not December. I hope I can keep scoring and making goals to be at the top.”
Wolves host Sheffield United on Sunday having booked qualification in Europe with a game to spare.
And forward Diogo Jota hopes this season can top last term, where they also reached the FA Cup semi final.
“Last season we had a very good Premier League and made that run in the FA Cup,” he said. “That was special for our fans.
“But this season we have that competition as well and we are involved in Europa League matches so who knows.”
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