Arsenal: Unai Emery reacts to Mikel Arteta replacing him as manager at Emirates

Emery believes his former club have made a good decision

(EPA)

Unai Emery expects Arsenal’s appointment of Mikel Arteta to replace him as manager to be “a good decision”.

The Gunners sacked Emery last month after just 18 months in charge at the Emirates.

But no animosity remains as Emery praised the club’s decision to go for the former Manchester City assistant as his successor.

“He really is prepared to make that next jump,” Emery told the BBC.

“He has been at Arsenal before, he’s been in the Premier League and he has been working with Pep Guardiola.

“I do believe this is a good decision and I would also like it to be a good decision.”

Emery has also been careful not to jump straight back into management either, knocking back interest from Everton.

“Now is the time to go home. I’ve started doing a lot of soul searching,” Emery revealed. “We all spoke to each other and questioned what we got wrong.

Arteta poses with the shirt (Getty) (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

“There’s been interest from teams but I want to just spend some quiet time and choose the right project.

“Different teams have expressed interest. To be honest I want to thank them [Everton and others] for wanting me and I told them that I wanted to be quiet, that I need to take a little bit of air. And to choose well the next project after many years of not stopping.”