Unai Emery will hand Bernd Leno his first Arsenal start against Vorskla Poltava in the Europa League on Thursday and has said that it is up to the German to show he deserves to be picked for league games as well.
The goalkeeper has not yet featured since his £19.2m transfer from Bayer Leverkusen but will get his opportunity to press for more regular games in Arsenal’s opening European fixture of the season.
“We are going to play Leno but each match we are going to look at each performance and each preparation,” Emery said. “I think Petr [Cech]’s performance is good and with Leno we signed him for now and to improve with us. We want him to go a long way here at Arsenal – he is young.”
Emery won the Europa League for three successive years with Sevilla and insisted he would pick a strong team to help end Arsenal’s 24-year wait for a European trophy. “Every title for us is very important,” he said. In 2000, Arsenal played the final against Galatasaray but didn’t win. And also, Arsenal played the final in 2006 in the Champions League and also didn’t win.
“In my career, the ambition is very important to achieve the objectives in my career personally and with the team. I want to play for every title going forward.”
Emery was speaking a day after it was confirmed that Ivan Gazidis will leave the club next month to join Milan. Arsenal’s chief executive was pivotal in appointing Emery in May, but the Spaniard says he respects Gazidis’s decision to leave.
“The first three months with Ivan were very important for me because he’s a big person, and a professional person too,” said Emery. “The relationship between us was very close for three months.
“We spoke a lot about football, about management, about how big Arsenal is and our responsibility. His decision is a private one which I respect. I know Ivan is giving us the best next people to take the responsibility to continue to do good work.”
To assume Gazidis’s responsibilities, the club have confirmed Raúl Sanllehí as head of football and Vinai Venkatesham as managing director. Sven Mislintat will continue to oversee player recruitment.
Stephan Lichtsteiner, one of the club’s summer signings, will make his first start for Arsenal. The 34-year-old Switzerland international was signed by Emery to provide competition for Héctor Bellerín at right-back but has so far just been restricted to one substitute appearance against Manchester City on the opening day.
“I’m not frustrated but of course I’m not used to being on the bench more than three times in a row,” said Lichtsteiner, who joined after seven years with Juventus. “It’s also a new situation for me and I’m curious how I’ll manage it. I am hungry to get back to the Champions League.”