Speculations of Unai Emery's imminent sacking as Arsenal boss flared up following reports that executives of the North London club have met with former Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho, purportedly to discuss the latter coming on board. The Gunners hierarchy, however, dismissed the stories as unfounded.
Arsenal said Raúl Sanllehi, the club's head of football, and Mourinho have not met in years, and the two did not dine together as reported, according to The Guardian.
"The club have moved to quash widespread reports on Sunday morning that Sanllehi had met Mourinho for dinner," the publication said, adding that Mourinho first came into the picture when seen during the Gunners' winning game against Vittoria last month.
Rumors then started to spread that the Portuguese is being lined up to take the place of Emery, who has been plagued by questions of differences with key Arsenal players, such as the sidelining of Mesut Ozil, and of poor team management.
In the last four games of Arsenal, it seemed apparent that the Gunners' Spanish boss was struggling, leading to the club losing to opponents they could have easily dominated. Metro said in a report that the Arsenal board is now monitoring Emery and is giving him a few more games before deciding to retain him or show the door.
Per the same report, one issue against the Spaniard is his poor English that is being blamed for the disconnection with players. This problem is seen to be resolved by bringing in Mourinho, who has a better command of the language as indicated by his previous managing responsibilities with the Red Devils and Chelsea.
Another advantage supposedly enjoyed by Mourinho over Emery is the former's familiarity with the Premier League, which the club board would want on the next team boss.
In addition, hiring Mourinho is seen to make the best use of Ozil as the two have worked together in Real Madrid. The German playmaker is Arsenal's highest-paid player, but Emery opted to make him an outcast despite his obvious skills.
Now in the event that the Portuguese take over from Emery, it is likely that the new manager will prioritize three fresh signings for the purpose of strengthening "the spine of the side," The Sun reported.
The targeted possible recruits have been identified as Toby Alderweireld, Declan Rice, and Bruno Fernandes - all designed to beef up the Gunners' backbone and to possibly return the club to winning ways.
Mourinho would work on an overhaul of the Arsenal roster by first bringing in the required reinforcements on the midfield side, the report added.
