Emery reveals he wanted Zaha over Pepe

Former Arsenal boss Unai Emery has talked about how he had to choose between signing Wilfried Zaha from Crystal Palace and Nicolas Pepe from Lille while he was in charge at the Emirates.

Emery has now disclosed that his initial choice was to go with Zaha but the board refused to back him and instead went with the choice for Pepe.

“I usually want to sign first the players I know there,” Emery told Football London.

“When we played against Crystal Palace, Zaha showed he was a very good player.

“I also think Nicolas Pepe is a very good player. When you make the decision you have to decide how easy the adaption will be of some players.

“I was thinking the adaption was easier for Zaha because he was playing in the Premier League and you didn’t know exactly how fast Nicolas Pepe can adapt to the Premier League because I know you can need some time to adapt.

“I was thinking at this time that the adaption of Zaha was probably easier and faster than Pepe.”

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