Unai Emery is back in the Premier League!
The experienced manager will be taking over the helm at Aston Villa after ex-manager Steven Gerrard was given the sack after only 11 months in charge.
The 50-year-old first managed in the PL when he took over from Arsene Wenger in 2018, agreeing to a two-year deal. He was let go a year and a half into his reign though, as results were not up to the lofty standards at the Emirates.
Unai, who even owns a Spanish third-tier club called Real Union, has had an illustrated career as a manager.
He has managed at seven different clubs before coming to the English midlands, in four different countries.
His career win percentage comes to 53.2% and has managed some of the biggest teams in world football like Arsenal and PSG.
Emery has found a lot of success in the Europa League.
The manager won the competition three times with Sevilla, once with Villareal, and finished as a runner-up with the Gunners.
His time at France was fruitful as well, winning the league once, Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue twice and Trophee des Champions two times in his two seasons at PSG.
On an individual basis, Unai Emery has crowned the European Coach of the Season in 2013-14 and the UNFP Manager of the Year in 2017-18.
Aston Villa securing the services of such a decorated manager can be termed as a coup for the midtable English club.
Now for a man who has achieved so much in his career and managed some top clubs, the focus should have turned to his management style and how he can turn Villa after their poor performances under Gerrard.
But if only it were that simple.
Twitter managed to unearth something, and frankly, it’s a shame we did not see this coming.
A pattern is emerging.
Emery has managed three clubs with “Villa” in their names.
Well, wow.
Some even went a step further, stating that he has managed another Villa. Not a club though, Spain’s legendary striker David Villa.
The striker played under Unai back when he was managing Valencia. David played under him for two seasons, before moving on to Barcelona for €40 million.
Here’s another fun fact.
His assistant’s name is Pablo Villanueva.
Mind = Blown.
Pablo took temporary charge of Villareal’s Conference League game against Hapoel Be’er Sheva and is yet to be confirmed as an assistant manager in the new club but considering the pair have worked together at four different clubs, it is an educated guess that Pablo would follow Unai to England.
While all this is just fun and games, The Claret and Blue Army would be hoping that the arrival of a new manager would change their fortunes.
Well, it should. After all, they’re being led by a true Villan.
