Napoli clash brings Arsenal face-to-face with Ancelotti after rejecting him this summer

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Arsenal rejected former Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti during the summer before appointing Unai Emery to replace Arsene Wenger, according to Italian outlet Calcio Napoli 24.

They report that Ancelotti was keen on the job at the Emirates Stadium but the Gunners turned him down to pursue Emery.

Ancelotti of course went on to take over from Maurizio Sarri at Napoli, who who Arsenal will soon face in next month’s Europa League quarter-finals.

So the Italian, who has won the Champions League on three occasions, will come face to face with the club who rejected him in the summer.

Will Arsenal regret that decision? In truth, Ancelotti does not have the energy or dynamism that Arsenal needed to pull them in a new direction after the years of Wenger’s reign.

He would have been a steady pair of hands to keep a successful club on the same course – like he has done taking over from Sarri – but the Gunners needed a seat change and Emery has provided it.

Emery hasn’t had the money to do everything he would like but his passion for the club cannot be doubted and he will be looking to get one over on Ancelotti and prove definitively that he was the right man for the rebuilding job at the Emirates.