Unai Emery Wanted Liverpool Enforcer

Unai Emery revealed that he had shortlisted Fabinho before Liverpool got their hands on the defensive midfielder.

The Arsenal boss wanted to sign him from AS Monaco, while he was still in charge of Paris Saint-Germain.

Emery discussed the matter even when he arrived at the Emirates but a move proved to be impossible to finalise. Fabinho ended up moving to Liverpool for £40m and the Gunners ended up signing Lucas Torreira from Sampdoria for around £22m.

Emery used the example of Fabinho over why Arsenal fans need to be patient with their record signing, Nicolas Pepe. The Spaniard said, “Pepe needs time to adapt to the Premier League. For example, in France, I loved Fabinho a lot. He was at Monaco and I wanted to sign him for PSG.

“When I arrived here [at Arsenal], his name was on the table to try to sign him, but he signed for Liverpool. The first six months he didn’t play, it was adaptation. But now he is amazing and I want the same with Pepe.”

“We need patience,” he said. “Pepe is improving. On Monday, the key to win was with him. If he scores the first goal, it’s different. But it’s one process and I believe in him and I know he needs time and patience.”