London, May 23: Arsenal have appointed former Paris St Germain coach Unai Emery as their new manager, the Spaniard succeeding the long-serving Arsene Wenger, the Premier League club announced on their website on Wednesday (May 23).
Emery, who joined PSG in June 2016, left the French club at the end of this season, having led them to a domestic treble.
The 46-year-old had previously guided Spanish side Sevilla to three Europa League titles in three consecutive seasons from 2013-14 to 2015-16 - a competition Arsenal will enter once more next term after a sixth-place Premier League finish.
"Unai has an outstanding track record of success throughout his career, has developed some of the best young talent in Europe and plays an exciting, progressive style of football that fits Arsenal perfectly," Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis said in a statement.
Unai Emery is our new head coach - find out all about it here #WelcomeUnai https://t.co/8dHnmam0KO
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) May 23, 2018
"His hard-working and passionate approach and his sense of values on and off the pitch make him the ideal person to take us forward."
Wenger departed the North London club at the end of last season after nearly 22 years at the helm, helping the team capture three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups.
A new dawn. A new era. A new chapter.#WelcomeUnai pic.twitter.com/kGrE2gMLQl
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) May 23, 2018
It marked an underwhelming end to Wenger's reign and one of Emery's primary tasks will be bringing Champions League football back to Emirates Stadium.
"I am thrilled to be joining one of the great clubs in the game," he said in a statement. "Arsenal is known and loved throughout the world for its style of play, its commitment to young players, the fantastic stadium, the way the club is run.
"I'm very excited to be given the responsibility to start this important new chapter in Arsenal's history," he added.
Earlier, Emery's website had confirmed the move with the former PSG coach's site showing a graphic with the Gunners' logo and the statement: "Proud to be part of the Arsenal family."
However, the page went down and displayed an error message soon after news of the upload spread.
Emery's time at the Parc des Princes will ultimately be remembered as somewhat unsatisfactory, with PSG headed by Qatari owner Nasser Al Khelaifi, having been dethroned by Monaco in Ligue 1 in his first campaign and twice failing to get beyond the last 16 of the Champions League.
However, the Gunners finally zeroed in on Emery ahead of other front-runners like former player Mikel Arteta, who is the assistant to Pep Guardiola at newly-crowned Premier League champions Manchester City.
(With Agency inputs).