Journalist Dan Bardell has claimed that Unai Emery was always seen as the number-one option for Aston Villa to replace Steven Gerrard.
Villa have acted quickly and efficiently to replace Gerrard, who’d won just two league games all season and had the Midlands outfit sitting inside the bottom half of the table despite spending over £170m in 2022.
The Villa board have opted to pay the release clause of former Arsenal manager Emery, who will take up his position from November 1st despite links to the likes of Michael Beale and Vincent Kompany.
And while speaking on The Villa View podcast, Bardell confirmed Villa’s interest in Emery was apparent even before Gerrard was sacked.
He said: “Initially, when there was starting to be talk that Gerrard was in big trouble, Emery was the first name that actually came up. Talking to different people, he was the first name that came up, Unai Emery, so that’s interesting.
Will Emery be a success at Villa?
Yes!
No!
“They will have spoken to other managers as well, that’s what you do. You speak to four, five, six different managers and then you probably know who your number-one target is before you do that, but then out of all of them, you gauge their interest, then you pick your target based on 1) the calibre of the manager and 2) are they interested.
“So with both those things in mind, Villa have probably got the one that they wanted.”
TIF Thoughts on Emery’s appointment…
It is certainly an interesting appointment from Villa, as many English fans will remember Emery for his underwhelming tenure at Arsenal which saw him replace Arsene Wenger and ultimately fail to replicate his success.
However, his overall record can’t be in doubt given the silverware he’s won throughout his career, and Villa fans will be hoping he can emulate that success at Villa Park after what’s been a testing time for them watching Gerrard manage the current squad.
Emery won’t be in place this weekend to manage against Newcastle United – the side he rejected almost a year ago – because of work permit issues, but he will be able to take a closer look at his new squad and decide what he wants to do with certain players.