Paris: After a week in the Paris Saint Germain hot-seat Spanish coach Unai Emery unveiled three new signings on Monday as he told fans to forget the past and focus on the future.
PSG’s star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic signed with Manchester United on Friday after bagging 51 goals last season, but dazzling dribbler Hatem Ben Arfa, Belgian international defender Thomas Meunier and holding midfield general Grzegorz Krychowiak have all joined since Emery took over.
“We start from zero,” the 44-year-old said as he met the French press for the first time at the Ligue 1 champions’ Parc des Princes on Monday.
“Zlatan in Paris. That was beautiful. I had something similar at Sevilla,” said Emery, who won three Europa League titles at Sevilla.
“But what happened in the past is over.”
“Now we focus on the future and I’m happy and proud to be here,” added Emery.
Ben Arfa was similarily dramatic when his turn in the press spotlight came.
“A year ago I was unemployed, now I’m at one of the best clubs in the world,” said the 29-year-old former boy wonder whose career nosedived when he fell foul of a Fifa ruling two seasons ago and spent a year on the sidelines.
“This is sheer happiness he said.
“I can go up a whole new level here,” the former Lyon, Marseille and Newcastle forward said.
Meanwhile, former Paris Saint-Germain full-back Gregory van der Wiel has joined Fenerbahce on a four-year deal, the Turkish club announced on Monday.
The 28-year-old passed his medical and appeared before the press to sign the contract, which sets him up for three years with the Istanbul giants with the option of a fourth year.
“Very happy to be part of the Fenerbahce family! Can’t wait to wear the shirt on the pitch,” the Dutchman wrote on Twitter.
The Netherlands international left PSG at the end of his contract in May after sealing a clean sweep of the French domestic trophies with the Ligue 1 champions.
Last term he had to settle for a place on the bench more often than in previous years due to the good form of Ivorian Serge Aurier.
Van der Wiel played 132 times for PSG, scoring five goals, after joining from Ajax in 2012.
Under Portuguese head coach Vitor Pereira, Fenerbahce finished second in the Turkish Super Lig last season behind Besiktas.
