Unai Emery insists Arsenal have made an excellent decision in appointing Mikel Arteta as his permanent successor.

The former PSG and Sevilla manager was fired last month following a calamitous run of results which culminated in a shock home defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League.

Arsenal confirmed on Friday that former captain Arteta would be returning to the club following a three-and-a-half year spell as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City.

Despite his status as a managerial novice, Emery believes his compatriot has all the qualities required to turn the fortunes of the north London club around.

He told me: ‘He really is prepared to make that next jump.

‘He has been at Arsenal before, he’s been in the Premier League and he has been working with Pep Guardiola.

‘I do believe this is a good decision and I would also like it to be a good decision.’

Emery, meanwhile, was recently linked with the vacant role at Everton which appears set to be filled by Carlo Ancelotti following his departure from Napoli.

The 48-year-old thanked Everton for their interest but insists he requires a period of reflection before he returns to the game.

He added:  ‘Now is the time to go home. To be with my people, to analyse a lot. I’ll spend the next few days close to my family, with my coaches. And I’ve started doing a lot of soul searching.

‘We all spoke to each other and questioned what we got wrong. There’s been interest from teams but I want to just spend some quiet time and choose the right project.

‘Different teams have expressed interest. To be honest I want to thank them [Everton and others] for wanting me and I told them that I wanted to be quiet, that I need to take a little bit of air. And to choose well the next project after many years of not stopping.’