Unai Emery has given his approval for Arsenal to move for long-linked target Emil Forsberg, according to reports in Italy.

Calciomercato report that Emery signing on with the Gunners has thrown a spanner in the works when it comes to Juventus’ move for Forsberg. Arsenal reportedly put a move for the playmaker on hold, as they worked on bringing in the new head coach.

Now Emery is officially getting going with his new job though, and he reportedly gave his wholehearted approval to moving for the 26-year-old.

The Italian outlet claim Emery already wanted Forsberg when he was with PSG, so he didn’t take any convincing. The RB Leipzig man would reportedly cost around €40m.

Bid rejected last summer

Arsenal made a bid for Emil Forsberg last summer, and the Swedish international reportedly still really wants to come to the Premier League.

Raphael Honigstein told The Totally Football Show podcast in March that the 26-year-old was really unhappy to see RB Leipzig turn the Arsenal offer down last summer, and he still expects the club to try again.

“Emil Forsberg has been in and out of the (RB Leipzig) team with injuries, and they’ve really missed him a lot,” he said. “He is still a guy who really wants to go to the Premier League. He was very upset when Arsenal’s offer was turned down straight away by Leipzig.

“I think (Arsenal) will come back in for him because he has got a lot of talent.”

The speculation surrounding the player reportedly unsettled him, and affected his form. After eight goals and 22 assists in 31 matches last season, he only scored five goals and provided four assists in 33 appearances this time around.

Forsberg denies any rift with the coaching staff, telling Swedish media he’s still enjoying his football.

“No, I have a great relationship with my coach,” he told Expressen. “I understand there will be speculation when I am not playing, but I am enjoying my time at the club.”

There’s usually no smoke without fire though. Clearly the playmaker didn’t click with his teammates the way he did last season, whatever the reason.

Nonetheless, the statistics show he still performed well individually. WhoScored list his crossing, dribbling and set-pieces as ‘very strong’ in 2017/18, based on their analysis. They also add through balls as a strength, so he hasn’t lost his talent.

Perhaps he just needs a new team to express it in.