Unai Emery was reportedly a big fan of Newcastle winger Ryan Fraser two years ago

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The only current Newcastle player who Unai Emery has previously managed is Joe Willock.

The pair worked together at Arsenal, where Emery spent 18 months.

Emery is reportedly expected to be the next Toon boss, with hope that he can be in charge of the Magpies against Brighton on Saturday.

The Spaniard’s arrival could benefit Willock, as the soon-to-be new Newcastle manager gets acquainted with his new side.

However, Emery could have worked with another current Toon player if things had gone differently.

Emery wanted to sign Ryan Fraser for Arsenal in 2019

At the end of his first season at Arsenal, Emery reportedly wanted to sign a winger.

And one of his alleged targets was then-Bournemouth star Ryan Fraser. The Scotland international was on the back of the best season of his career, recording 14 Premier League assists. That tally was only bettered by Eden Hazard.

Reports stated that Arsenal wanted to sign Fraser for around £20million, with the Daily Star explaining why Emery was so keen to sign the speedster.

They wrote more than two years ago that Emery was impressed with Fraser’s goal contributions that season, as well as his work rate.

In the end, Fraser stayed at Bournemouth. He would then leave 12 months later when his contract expired.

He joined Newcastle in the summer of 2020, but we’re yet to see the best of the pint-sized midfielder.

Fraser has barely featured for Newcastle, often struggling with injury or just fitting into the starting XI.

He’s started the previous two games as a central midfielder, but really struggled to impress in black and white.

So perhaps he is a player who could have something of a resurgence under Emery. He was a fan of Fraser two years ago, and now it looks like he will finally get the chance to work with him.

However, Fraser is not the exciting player he was in 2019. He’s a player who is bang out of form and has largely struggled since rumours of a move to the Emirates.

Here’s hoping the soon-to-be Toon boss can bring the best out of Fraser once again, and he can start performing like the player Emery wanted to sign in 2019.