Unai Emery admits that he doesn’t know if his squad are better than last season

Add as preferred source on Google

Arsenal made a statement this summer. The Gunners shelled out £138 million on new signings, according to Sky Sports. This outlay saw William Saliba, Kieran Tierney, David Luiz, Dani Ceballos, Gabriel Martinelli and club-record £72 million man Nicolas Pepe all arrive at the Emirates Stadium.

This impressive business has instilled a sense of renewed optimism at the north London club. Unai Emery’s squad looks refreshed and renewed and ready for the new season. However, the Spanish coach is not yet sure to what extent his squad has actually been improved. 

As quoted by the Mirror, Emery said, “our idea is to improve on last year, to improve our work, improve our players, improve our challenge, to improve in achieving our target but I don’t know if we are better or not…I’m not more confident but I have more options”.

He certainly does have more options to choose from, especially considering academy products such as Joe Willock and Reiss Nelson have graduated into the first team squad. However, as the European transfer window remains open, there could still be some outgoings.

TBR’s view

Emery’s comments seem strange, as Arsenal look to have obviously improved. It is likely that the Spaniard is simply trying to urge caution. He will not want fans, or even his players, getting carried away with themselves, or becoming complacent. However, he would surely privately concede that his squad looks in better shape now than it did a year ago.

Spending does not necessarily guarantee success though, and that appears to be what Emery is getting at. The measure of Arsenal’s transfer business will ultimately be found out on the pitch.