Raul Sanllehi sets Unai Emery his clearest target yet for second season at Arsenal

Raul Sanllehi says that he has told Unai Emery he is expected to take Arsenal back into the Champions League in his second season in charge.

Emery arrived at Arsenal in the summer of 2018 tasked with ending what was then a two-year absence from the Champions League. In his first season the Gunners fell short on two fronts, ceding a sizeable advantage in the top four race before losing the Europa League final to Chelsea.

Arsenal are acutely aware of the burden that comes with being out of Europe's biggest competition - director Josh Kroenke last summer described the Gunners as having "a Champions League wage bill on a Europa League budget right now" - and the club invested heavily to strengthen Emery's hand over the summer with the club record buy of Nicolas Pepe and high-profile additions of Kieran Tierney, David Luiz and Dani Ceballos.

Currently Arsenal are on course to achieve head of football Sanllehi's target. Emery's side are third in the table, a point off second-placed Manchester City, and have established an early advantage over likely top four rivals Manchester United and Tottenham.

"We said to Unai that we just missed out on qualifying for the Champions League last year, but this year with a stronger squad, we expect you to do that," Sanllehi said at a fans' forum event last night.

The comments should not be read as an ultimatum to Emery and a club source insisted the Arsenal hierarchy are conscious of the strong levels of competition for a top four finish in the Premier League. Failing to return to the Champions League does not necessarily mean that the Spaniard will be dispensed with.

However Arsenal have a option on whether or not to extend Emery's contract for a third season and it will certainly not strengthen his case if after two years he has not guided the club back to European football's top table.

Emery's side have only lost one match all season - away to European champions Liverpool - but there have been murmurings of discontent from supporters who are not enamoured with the Spaniard's style of football and his sidelining of the club's highest-paid player Mesut Ozil.