Aston Villa have appointed Unai Emery as their new manager after the Premier League club paid the Spaniard’s €6m (£5.25m) release clause at Villarreal. Villa approached Emery as they sought to arrange a quick meeting following Steven Gerrard’s sacking.
Emery will take over from November 1 once his work permit formalities are complete, meaning interim Villa manager Aaron Danks will remain in charge for Saturday’s visit of Newcastle. Villarreal have held out hope that Emery will stay, as he did when he turned down Newcastle’s advances last year, but the club confirmed his departure on Monday night. Emery’s contract with Villarreal was due to expire next summer.
The appointment of Emery by billionaire owners Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris is a significant coup and underlines their ambition to return Villa to European competition. Emery’s pedigree in Europe and familiarity with the Premier League from his time in charge of Arsenal were attractive to the hierarchy, who accelerated talks with several suitors at the weekend.
Villarreal players throw head coach Unai Emery (above) in the air after winning the 2021 Europa League final. Photo: Xinhua/Shutterstock
Villa’s owners have spent around £400m on the team since buying the club in 2018 and will be backing the Spaniard in the January transfer window. Villa pulled out of talks with Sporting head coach Ruben Amorim’s representatives earlier on Monday. Emery’s first game in charge will be at home to Manchester United on November 6.
The former Arsenal head coach secured the Europa League with Villarreal in 2021 after beating Manchester United on penalties in the final and won the competition three years in a row with Sevilla from 2014 to 2016. Villarreal enjoyed a good run in the Champions League last season, with Emery leading them to the semi-finals, beating Juventus and Bayern Munich before falling apart against Liverpool.
Emery struggled somewhat as Arsene Wenger’s successor during a brief spell at the Emirates Stadium, when the team finished fifth in the Premier League and lost the Europa League final against Chelsea in 2019. But he is recognized as one of the elite managers in the game and Newcastle were close to appointing him last year before Emery considered the move.
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Gerrard was sacked after less than a year in charge following an embarrassing 3-0 defeat at Fulham, but he returned to Villa Bodimoor Heath’s training base on the team bus and said goodbye to his players in the early hours of Friday. Without Gerrard, Villa beat Brentford 4-0 on Sunday under Danks for the team’s third league win of the season.
Villa targeted a high-calibre coach and were interested in Mauricio Pochettino and Thomas Tuchel, but quickly discovered both were non-starters. They admire Thomas Frank but have not made a move for the Brentford boss.
Emery will give a farewell press conference at Villarreal’s training ground on Tuesday morning. In a statement confirming his departure, the Spanish side said Emery “has gone down in Villarreal history” thanks to his success in Europe during his two years in charge.
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