Arsenal Executive Ivan Gazidis Reveals Unai Emery Chosen over 2 Other Candidates

Unai Emery became Arsenal's new manager after beating two other candidates to the job, according to chief executive Ivan Gazidis.

On Wednesday, Gazidis said he, head of football relations Raul Sanllehi and head of recruitment Sven Mislintat all had Emery at the top of their lists, per James Olley of the London Evening Standard. 

Olley said Manchester City assistant coach Mikel Arteta and Hoffenheim boss Julian Nagelsmann were believed to be the other two candidates who came close to getting the job.

Gazidis detailed exactly how he, Sanllehi and Mislintat arrived at former Almeria, Valencia, Sevilla and Paris Saint-Germain boss Emery as Arsene Wenger's successor:

"We went through a pretty wide-ranging discussion, challenging each other on as much as we could on preconceptions and assumptions we might have had going into the process.

"By the way, all the way going through the process, Raul and I and Sven spoke to each other as little as possible. Because we didn't want to pollute each other's viewpoints from the discussions we had had. We wanted to come to the discussion fresh when we had been through all eight of the finalist candidates. We narrowed it down to three. We spent an entire day discussing among those three.

"At the end of the day, three of us all wrote on a piece of paper, 1, 2, 3, and put them into the middle of the table. And the choices were all 1, 2, 3 the same. And Unai was at the top of all of our lists."

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Gazidis also tellingly revealed Emery has penned a three-year contract. While it may appear a short-term arrangement, Arsenal's chief executive described Emery's arrival as a "significant change."

He also cautioned against expecting instant rewards from the new man, dubbing any demands for immediate success "naive."

It's a curious statement considering many Arsenal fans will be keen for a quick turnaround after the club finished fifth and sixth in the Premier League during the final two years on Wenger's watch.

It means another season in the UEFA Europa League for the north London outfit, a competition Emery won three years in a row while in charge at Sevilla.

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The Gunners last won the league title in 2004 but have collected three FA Cup trophies in the past five seasons.

Wenger stepped down after a final season that featured a 3-0 defeat to City in the Carabao Cup final and a 2-1 aggregate loss to Atletico Madrid in the Europa League last four.

While Gazidis heralded the change, he did say "it's not a criticism of Arsene."

Emery was officially unveiled as Wenger's successor on Wednesday, with the north London club relaying a welcome message via its Twitter account:

Olley felt the language used to describe the new man was significant:

Emery's new title speaks to the altered structure at Arsenal. It's a triage style of decision-making led by Gazidis wherein the manager or coach is expected to fit into a framework and have less overall responsibility.

Henry Winter of The Times noted Gazidis remains focused on a way of operating that is less reliant on one man:

Wenger was a significant figure in nearly every aspect of the club during his near 22 years in charge, so replacing him has been a daunting task. Arteta appeared the favourite, with reports as recent Saturday even anticipating an imminent agreement on a deal for the man who played for Wenger for five years to take over.

However, Gazidis was adamant no final decision on any candidate was made until Arsenal's powers that be had signed off on Emery, per Goal's Chris Wheatley:

Gazidis' description of the process leading to Emery's hiring emphasised how post-Wenger Arsenal will be guided by multiple voices.

While it's been easy to question how this combination of differing authority and expertise will work, Gazidis has outlined how he, Sanllehi and Mislintat are operating in symbiotic fashion so far.