Arsene Wenger told Arsenal chiefs to appoint this boss... NOT Unai Emery - Ciro Venerato

ARSENAL chiefs were told by former Gunners boss Arsene Wenger to appoint Carlo Ancelotti as his replacement and not Unai Emery.

That's the revelation made by Italian transfer expert Ciro Venerato.

Wenger was one of Arsenal’s greatest ever managers, however, his choice of successor wasn’t deemed good enough by the club.

Following Wenger's 22-year spell with Arsenal, Ancelotti had hoped he would be next in line at the Emirates, Venerato claimed.

Instead Arsenal decided to go with Unai Emery after a successful two-year spell at Paris Saint-Germain.

“Arsenal and Napoli? I’ll tell you a behind-the-scenes [story] dating back to the summer,” Ciro Venerato said on Italian TV network Televomero.

“Arsene Wenger pointed to Carlo Ancelotti as his possible heir and successor on the Arsenal bench.

“Carlo Ancelotti, as you know, has his Canadian wife and their whole family lives in London.

“He was interested in following the evolution of the choices of the Gunners.

“Arsenal then chose Unai Emery and at that point Carlo Ancelotti signed for Napoli but did not forget that Arsenal rejected [the idea of him taking charge].”

Both Emery and Ancelotti have experience of winning titles, although the Italian did have previous experience in the Premier League after winning the title with Chelsea in 2010.

In the season before making the move to North London Emery had won the domestic treble with PSG, taking the Ligue 1 title, as well as both cups competitions in 2017-18.

It would have likely been a surprise to Wenger that the club didn’t follow his recommendation given what he had achieved while at the club.

Wenger, now 69 years old, managed Arsenal for 823 Premier League games and amassed 473 wins to 151 losses.

He also saw the Gunners score 1,549 league goals during his tenure at the club.