Unai Emery has praised his successor at Arsenal, Mikel Arteta for making his mark as their latest manager.
Arteta was made the boss after they fired Emery following a poor start to last season.
He won the FA Cup and Community Shield within the first few months of his time at the helm.
Emery led the team to the final of the Europa League in 2019, but he didn’t win a trophy for them in 18 months.
The former PSG boss is the new manager of Villarreal and he has led them to the semi-final of the Europa League.
They will face Arsenal in the first leg this Thursday and Emery was speaking ahead of the encounter.
He said the relationship between Arteta and the club is a good one considering that he played for them and is loved by the fans.
He also praised his compatriot for helping Arsenal return to their old way of playing under Arsene Wenger.
‘Arteta is putting his own stamp on things – in the way they play, it’s easy to identify he’s bringing back that Arsenal tradition of playing attractive football,’ Emery said via Mail Sport.
‘His first steps as Pep Guardiola’s assistant have helped him to position himself in this new profession which is being the manager.
‘Now he has been given this opportunity at Arsenal, and I think it’s a good place to develop because he is much loved by Arsenal thanks to the time he spent in the team.
‘He had his time [playing] there with Arsene Wenger so I’m sure he can apply everything he learned. I think it’s a good marriage: Arteta-Arsenal, Arsenal-Arteta.’