Arsenal strike gold after signing ‘world class’ Emery whose value has soared 225%

Arsenal today they are practically unrecognizable from the Unai Emery team left Mikel Arteta in December 2019.

The Aston Villa manager was tasked with leading the Gunners into a post-Arsene Wenger world in the summer of 2018, and while he got some things right, he got more things wrong.

The team was poor in attack, even worse in defense and looked like they were sleeping at the end of the half. Premier League when he was finally given the sack.

However, for all the terrible performances and confusing decisions he made in North London, the Spaniard was responsible for some great signings, including one whose valuation has since skyrocketed.

Emery’s smart signings

Before we get to the player in question, let’s look at some of Emery’s other shrewd signings, starting with one who is no longer at the club but did well during his time at the Emirates: Bird Leno.

The German goalkeeper joined the Gunners in June 2018 for a fee of around £19mand while he wasn’t necessarily a household name at the time, he quickly proved his worth to the North Londoners with his brilliant shot-stopping.

Over the next three seasons, the former Bayer Leverkusen ace did 117 appearances for the Gunnersin which he kept an impressive 34 clean sheets for a team that was far less solid at the back.

However, the 32-year-old was limited in just eight appearances in the 21/22 campaign due to the arrival of Aaron Ramsdale and was eventually sold to Fulham on August 2022 for around £8mwhere it has already achieved undisputed success collected 91 entriesin which he kept 20 home runs intact.

Another of Emery’s brilliant signings during his time at the Emirates came in the summer of 2019, when the club paid £6 million to an unknown Brazilian teenager named Gabriel Martinelli.

The now 23-year-old has struggled at points during his time with the Gunners, most notably last season, as a drop in performance from the previous campaign led to questions about his place in the team, questions that some may even have today.

However, the fact that it has come together is impressive Scored 45 goals and 27 assists in 192 appearances for the club, 135 of which have been starts, makes it impossible to describe his transfer as anything other than a big success, especially considering the small transfer fee he initially cost the club.

With that said, another teenager was signed in the same summer, and it would be fair to say that he was an even bigger success than the Brazilian, as evidenced by his huge valuation.

Emery’s best signing at Arsenal

Now somewhat restricted, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the player in question is none other than the excellent centre-back William Saliba.

The French international has joined Arsenal in a £27m deal from Ligue 1 side Saint-Étienne in July 2019, although he would not play for Emery. In fact, he would not play a competitive game for the Gunners until the 22/23 season.

This was because he was sent back to Saint-Étienne on loan for the 19/20 season and then Arteta chose to send him on loan to OGC Nice and Marseille. for the next seasonsleading some to question whether the Bondi-born ace it even had a future in North London not at all.

Fortunately, the club ignored such speculation and eventually included him in the squad for the 22/23 season, and lo and behold, the highly-rated defender won the Man of the Match award on his first start for the club at the start of the season of the Premier League, away to Crystal Palace.

From that point on, the 6-foot-4 “monster” like compiled by talent scout Jacek Kulighe was essential for the Gunners.

In fact, the only time he was out of the squad was when he suffered an unfortunate back injury against Sporting CP in March 2023, which is often identified as the moment the club’s surprise title run collapsed that season, underscoring how crucial he is.

All in all, the “world-class” defender, as compiled by Fabrizio Romanohas made 101 appearances for Arsenal, scoring five goals, providing two assists and being named in the PFA Team of the Year in 2023 and 2024endorsing U23 scout Antonio Mango’s claim that it is “one of the best in the world.”

Unsurprisingly, such a rise has seen his valuation skyrocket and according to the CIES Football Observatory, it is now worth 106 million euroswhich converts to around £88m, representing a massive increase of around 225% on the price it originally cost Arsenal in 2019.

Ultimately, while Emery did a lot of things wrong during his year and a bit in North London, signing Saliba was not one of them, and fans should be grateful he pulled the trigger on this transfer when he did. , as they now have one of the best defenders in the world in their squad.

Related

Outdoes Saka in PL: Arsenal want Havertz’s ‘super’ rival for £40m star

The incredible talent would make Arsenal’s squad that much better.