'We want to be in the top four' - Emery happy with Arsenal's transfer business

Unai Emery says Arsenal’s transfer business this summer was geared towards competing for a place in the Premier League’s top four.

Emery spent big bringing in Nicolas Pepe for £72million from Lille as well as taking Dani Ceballos on loan from Real Madrid – at a cost of £15m plus the midfielder’s wages.

Arsenal also signed David Luiz from Chelsea for £7m along with Kieran Tierney from Celtic in a deal worth £25m.

The Gunners haven’t finished inside the top four for the last three seasons, but Emery feels that can change this season, starting on Sunday away at Newcastle.

‘We are happy and delighted with our players and we know it will be difficult but our motivation and ambition is to do the best we can do,’ Emery said. ‘We want to do well in every competition but we focus on the Premier League.

‘We want to be in the top four and reduce the gap to Manchester City and Liverpool and get close to them. And after them Tottenham and Manchester United, and it is a challenge for us to achieve top four.’

Luiz, 32, was brought in on transfer deadline day to fill a glaring gap in Arsenal’s central defence after Laurent Koscielny got his wish to leave the club and move back to France with Bordeaux.

Emery believes Luiz can become an integral part of his team – a player he previously worked with at Paris Saint-Germain.

‘He decided to change Chelsea for us and he wants to do something important for us in the present and also the future,' he said.

‘He has experience and he is a good defender and he is coming to us with the quality and the capacity to help us.’