Former Arsenal boss Unai Emery has confirmed Sevilla sports chief Monchi almost joined him in London.

Emery admits he felt "alone" while in charge of the Gunners.

"At all the teams I've been at I have practically always had protection," he is quoted by the Daily Mail, mentioning Monchi who he says almost joined him at Arsenal before opting to return to Sevilla instead.

"At PSG the president Nasser Al-Khelaifi protected me a lot. At Arsenal I did miss them protecting me more.

"The club employ me as the coach and they had Ivan Gazidis, Raul [Sanllehi], then there is Edu, and I have to trust in them to do their job while I concentrate on the players and training.

"Before I arrived it was Arsene Wenger who did everything. It was different but I arrived as the coach and I wanted to work that way. Then there were decisions made at the club that did not turn out well.

"I was left exposed by results and with certain errors that had been made before. Logically I didn't say anything but I felt alone.

"When there were problems at PSG the president came down to the dressing room and protected all of us.

"With Arsenal they still didn't have that. Perhaps because the club has come from the Wenger era when he did everything. They didn't know how to."