Arsenal: The Unai Emery revolution is here

This summer, Arsenal undertook a massive overhaul of the squad, revamping several crucial positions. The Unai Emery revolution really is here.

Was it the players or was it the manager? That was the question Arsenal fans were asking themselves during the dour latter years of Arsene Wenger’s increasingly sliding tenure. A little over a year after the Frenchman’s forced resignation, the club have provided their answer.

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Unai Emery was hired to replace Wenger and rejuvenate the squad. His first summer — and season — was primarily about learning the club, developing a relationship with the players that he inherited, and slowly building a picture about the type of team he was inheriting, as well as forming opinions on which individuals in that team he wanted to take forward. In his second summer, the real dirty work got going.

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The European transfer window closed on Monday. Arsenal were busy right up until the end. In the final days of the window, three senior players all left the club, Nacho Monreal departing on a permanent basis and Mohamed Elneny and Henrikh Mkhitaryan both leaving on season-long loans. This came after a busy window in which 11 senior players exited. Throw in key additions at left-back, right wing, centre-back and central midfield, and it is clear to see that Emery’s 2019 iteration will be very different.

The basic purpose of the departures was to trim the fat of the squad, both in regards to offloading unwanted or unproductive players and releasing the financial burden that a stretched wage bill and miniscule transfer budget was holding over the club. All in all, Arsenal shaved almost £50 million off the 2019/20 wage budget through their varius sales and loans. That is a significant amount.

Moreover, they also raised over £60 million in transfer fees, the majority coming from the £35-£40 million (depending on certain clauses) sale of Alex Iwobi. This allowed them to buy. They broke their club record with the £72 million acquisition of Nicolas Pepe. Kieran Tierney arrived for £25 million while a future deal for William Saliba was secured for £27 million. All in all, the Gunners spent almost £150 million this summer, although the fees will be paid in instalments, the third-most in the Premier League and the most they have ever done so in one summer window.

Perhaps more pertinent than all of this, however, than all the finances involved or the number of moves or the shifting of systems, styles and evolving positions is the age of the players who were both bought and sold. The average age of the 11 senior players who departed this summer is 30. The average age of the new arrivals is 23. And if you take David Luiz out of the equation, who was essentially a direct replacement for Laurent Koscielny, that falls to 21. And without Dani Ceballos, who is on loan, it falls to 20.5.

And this does not include the clear move to bleed more young academy products into the team. Joe Willock started the first three games of the season, including a daunting trip to Anfield, Reiss Nelson started the opening two matches, while Mkhitaryan’s deadline-day departure was conducted in part to open up opportunities for the likes of Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe.

This Arsenal team is completely and utterly different to what it was under Wenger. There has been a revolution over the last 18 months. Now, Unai Emery just has to put it all together.