Arsenal chief Raul Sanllehi has said that the club ‘expect’ manager Unai Emery to deliver Champions League football this season.
The North London side narrowly missed out on a return to Europe’s elite last season, finishing fifth in the Premier League by just a point and being beaten in the final of the Europa League by London rivals Chelsea.
The Arsenal board responded to their continued absence from the Champions League by significantly backing Emery in this summer’s transfer market, including spending a club-record £72m to sign winger Nicolas Pepe from Lille.
Arsenal’s expensive foray into the transfer market, which also included the signings of Kieran Tierney and David Luiz, has raised expectations at the Emirates and Head of Football Sanllehi has revealed that the expectation is to secure a top-four finish.
Speaking at a fans’ forum on Thursday night, he admitted: “We said to Unai that we just missed out on qualifying for the Champions League last year, but this year with a stronger squad, we expect you to do that.”
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