Freddie Ljungberg’s goal is to become Arsenal’s head coach someday, according to former Gunner Anders Limpar, and with Unai Emery’s sacking, he’s one step closer.

Speaking on a Swedish web show for Aftonbladet (via Reddit) back in the summer, Limpar recalled meeting with Ljungberg for 40 minutes ahead of a game between Arsenal and Milan in the Europa League in 2018 and revealed Freddie Ljungberg’s goal.

According to Limpar, Ljungberg told him his goal was to become head coach of Arsenal, and he was about to take coaching classes and so on in preparation.

Ljungberg is apparently very passionate about that aim, and he’s even taken psychology classes to help understand the mindset of different types of players.

Not long after the Milan match, Ljungberg took the job as head of the Arsenal u23s, leading them to a second-place finish in the league whilst developing the likes of Joe Willock, Bukayo Saka and Tyreece John-Jules impressively.

Arsenal took notice and promoted their former player to a new first-team role as an assistant coach, with the aim for him to help the most talented u23s transition into the first team.

Now, they’ve turned to Ljungberg to fill in after finally sacking Emery, at least until they find a long-term appointment. If he does well in the job, he could follow the likes of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Frank Lampard into a permanent position with their former clubs.

That’s all hypothetical at this stage, but it’s certainly true that Ljungberg is a lot closer to his target of becoming Arsenal head coach than he was when he had that conversation with Limpar last year.