Aston Villa manager Unai Emery is the favourite from Real Madrid to replace Carlo Ancelotti in the dugout.
The Basque boss watched his side crash out of the Champions League quarter-finals last night at Villa Park – but not without a fight, as Aston Villa fought back against Paris Saint-Germain to come within a goal of taking the tie to extra-time.
The Midlands side have ended their first season back in Europe's premier competition unbeaten at home, with Emery widely praised for his work with this team and hopes high that they can qualify once again by finishing in the top five of the Premier League this term.
Real Madrid circling for Unai Emery of Aston Villa
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti, however, has come under fire following the European champions' 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals – and though Xabi Alonso has been the favourite to assume the reins at his former club, Bayer Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro has told Sky Germany that there is a “high probability” that Die Werkself retain both Alonso and talismanic no.10, Florian Wirtz.
With Leverkusen likely to surrender their crown in the league to Bayern Munich and the Bavarians having knocked the Bundesliga champions out of Europe to boot – with Alonso making questionable tactical errors across three games against his closest rivals – the 43-year-old's star has fallen a little, with Carro quoted as saying he's “assuming” the World Cup winner stays in Germany another season.
Other names are now being linked with the job in Madrid, with Spanish football expert Graham Hunter telling FourFourTwo exclusively recently that he expects Ancelotti to depart this summer after a second spell in the hot seat.
“Ancelotti has been cursed by the fixture list,” Hunter said, adding, “[Real's] best players having their athletic and creative juices squeezed out of them – and with huge sadness, we might be saying goodbye to Carlo Ancelotti.”
Fichajes in Spain reports that Emery is an option, thanks to “a track record that includes continental titles and a consistency in the elite that few coaches can match” – having won four Europa League winners' medals.
FourFourTwo understands, however, that while Emery has fans at bigger clubs, he may prefer to stay with an underdog.
The Basque has managed big clubs with big egos before, in the shape of Arsenal and PSG to mixed results, while links to Newcastle United never surfaced.
While Real Madrid is a big opportunity to turn down, Emery is fully committed to Villa and it would be a massive shock to see him leave – especially if they qualify for the Champions League once more.
Villa host Newcastle this weekend as Premier League action continues.
