Sky Sports Reporter Claims Incoming Arsenal Boss Emery Has License to Spend Big This Summer

Unai Emery is expected to be unveiled as the new Arsenal manager this week and will be allowed to spend up to £90m on a single player as he looks to shape the club in his image.

Emery departed Paris Saint-Germain after their season ended last weekend, having won the league title and back-to-back French cup doubles in his two years at the club. After becoming a free agent, Emery overtook Mikel Arteta as the outright favourite to replace Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.

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It appears as though Emery would want assurances he will be backed by the board before accepting the role. Arsenal were thought to have set a tight budget having already spent big this year, but Sky Sports reporter Kaveh Solhekol claims the club would be willing to back Emery and could boost the budget with some sales of other players.

Solhekol was quoted by the Express as saying: "I think what you have to say is that when it comes to finances, Arsenal are one of the leading clubs in the world. If they want to sign a player for whatever amount of money it takes, they can sign that player.

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"Of course, we’ve been led to believe that the transfer budget that the new manager will be looking will be about £50m this summer but you can add to that pot any proceeds they get from selling players.

"If Unai Emery says that he wants to buy players for £50m-60-70-80-90m, well Arsenal can afford to spend as much as it takes to get the players that he wants."

Whilst the club would be willing to back their man financially, Emery won’t have full reign over transfers as Solhekol also stressed the importance of the Spaniard fitting in with the already established structure at Arsenal.

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"Of course one of the things that Unai Emery will be well aware of, he has to fit into the management structure at Arsenal. He will have to work closely with the chief executive, the head of football relations and the head of recruitment," he continued.

The current British record for a transfer was Paul Pogba’s move to Manchester United for a reported £89.7m, so Emery would certainly be boosted by news that Arsenal are prepared to match that record.