New Aston Villa boss Unai Emery last year decided to turn down Newcastle United in order to pursue his UEFA Champions League ambitions at Villarreal. Emery was earmarked as Newcastle’s first-choice candidate to replace Steve Bruce in November 2021 but the Spaniard rejected the opportunity and Eddie Howe was instead elected to lead Newcastle into a new era under the PIF regime – a decision which is currently paying off handsomely.
Nonetheless, Emery’s arrival at Aston Villa has raised a few eyebrows, especially considering the project that he overlooked at St James’ Park just 11 months before. The 50-year-old will return to England for his second spell in the Premier League, after an 18-month spell at Arsenal resulted in him receiving the sack in 2019.
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He has since rebuilt his managerial career in Spain by propelling Villarreal to unprecedented success. It was for this reason that Emery walked away from PIF’s approach.
“The Newcastle project is an attractive project – something to build, different to Arsenal,” Emery told The Athletic in April. “With Arsenal, you first had to knock down the walls, which is hard work, then start to build again.
"Newcastle, no, it was just about building from the ground up. So it is different, and I liked the idea. But I was also grateful to Villarreal for the opportunity they gave me, and we were in the Champions League.”
Emery broke Villarreal’s club record of 18 matches unbeaten during his debut campaign, before leading them to their first European trophy with victory over Manchester United in the UEFA Europa League final.
He built on his success in the Europa League by guiding the Yellow Submarine into the UEFA Champions League semi-finals last term. Emery will succeed Steven Gerrard, who was sacked by Aston Villa last Thursday following a run of just two wins from their first 11 league games (D3, L6).
Aaron Danks took caretaker charge as Villa cruised to a 4-0 victory over Brentford at Villa Park last Sunday. He will do so once again when the Villains travel to St James’ Park to face Newcastle on Saturday.
Emery will officially start his role in the dugout for Villa on November 1, with his debut coming against Manchester United at Villa Park five days later.
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