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Arsenal announce Unai Emery's staff: Steve Bould stays, Jens Lehmann goes

Former Arsenal defender Steve Bould will continue as an assistant head coach under Unai Emery, but former goalkeeper Jens Lehmann will depart the Emirates after one season, the club announced on Tuesday.

Bould, who returned to the club under former manager Arsene Wenger in May 2012, is one of three holdovers in Emery's backroom staff, with director of high performance Darren Burgess and goalkeeping coach Sal Bibbo, both appointed in July 2017, also continuing with the club.

"Unai has a very strong and talented team and I'm delighted that they are joining us," Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis said in a statement. "I'm also pleased that Steve Bould, Sal Bibbo and Darren Burgess will continue their work with us. As we go through this period of change, we need to retain some continuity, and they have an important role to play."

Lehmann, who played for Arsenal's "Invincibles" in 2003-04, was among the Wenger assistants not retained. The German was brought back by Wenger as a first-team coach last summer, a move that was seen as a way of instilling some of that "Invincibles" mentality into a squad often often accused of being too soft.

Lehmann seemed unhappy about being let go, insinuating in a Twitter post that the club no longer wanted to keep a connection to the 2003-04 unbeaten side.

"Dear #Arsenal Fans, I am sorry to leave the club after only one year again. It was a good experience working with the players as one of the assistant-coaches. But the attitude from our 2004-group is not needed there anymore," the German wrote.

Emery, appointed in May after Wenger stepped down after 22 years at the club, will bring several longtime assistants with him from Paris Saint-Germain, including assistant head coach Juan Carlos Carcedo, first-team coach Pablo Villanueva, strength and conditioning coach Julen Masach and data/video analyst Victor Manas.

Carcedo first worked with Emery at Almeira in 2006, and he has followed the coach to Valencia, Spartak Moscow, Sevilla and PSG.

Arsenal also confirmed that other members of Wenger's former staff, such as first-team coach Boro Primorac, goalkeeping coach Gerry Payton and head of medical services Colin Lewin were let go.

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