UNAI EMERY has committed his long term future to Aston Villa by signing a one-year extension to his contract.
The news will come as a blow to Bayern Munich who had identified the 52-year-old Spaniard as their preferred candidate to replace Thomas Tuchel this summer.
It will also rule out Manchester United and Liverpool from targeting the former PSG, Arsenal, Sevilla and Valencia boss.
Villa moved swiftly to extend Emery’s current deal, which already had three years to run, after a sensational season.
He has led Villa to fourth place in the Premier League and to their first European semi-final in 42 years.
The club’s billionaire owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens are so delighted with the transformation he has brought about at Villa they intend to sit down with Emery this summer to prolong the deal even further.
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They believe they currently have one of the best bosses in Europe, who is on a par with Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp and who could become their version of Sir Alex Ferguson.
They have backed Emery since he arrived from Villarreal on a four-and-a-half year deal in October 2022.
That was when Villa were languishing in 17th place in the Premier League.
Emery has had a major say in every significant club appointment since from Head of Recruitment Monchi, down to his large staff of coaches and video analysts.
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It is that autonomy which has allowed Emery to control almost every aspect of life at Villa, which the likes of Bayern could never grant him.
Emery is understood to love the project he has taken on at Villa and the power he has due to the trust the owners have placed in him.
News of Emery’s contract extension until 2027 will be greeted with joy by Villa’s players such as Ollie Watkins and skipper John McGinn, who have seen their own performances soar under the gifted Spanish coach.
Villa fans will also rejoice at the news Emery has turned his back on some of the giants of the European game to commit his future to their club, in what will come as a huge boost for the remainder of their season.
Emery takes his side to Chelsea on Saturday looking to take another step towards Champions League qualification.
They are currently fourth in the top-flight, three points ahead of fifth-placed Tottenham having played two games more.
Villa have a trip to Brighton and a home clash with title-chasing Liverpool to go before their final day showdown with Crystal Palace.
However, they also have a two-legged Europa Conference League semi-final with Greek giants Olympiacos to navigate.
The winner of that will face the victors of Fiorentina and Club Brugge in the final next month.
Our beautiful game is broken
By Dave Kidd
When Manchester United got lucky in their FA Cup semi-final, Antony’s first instinct was to goad heartbroken opponents Coventry. To rub their noses in the dirt.
Antony seems to be a vile individual but this isn’t really about Antony. Because Antony is merely a symptom of the hideous sickness within England’s top flight.
There is so much wrong.
After our elite clubs persuaded the FA to completely scrap Cup replays — which gave us Ronnie Radford and Ricky Villa and Ryan Giggs — without due recompense or reasoning with the rest of English football.
The previous day, after his Manchester City side had defeated Chelsea in the other FA Cup semi-final, Pep Guardiola whinged about the fixture scheduling of TV companies who effectively pay much of his £20m salary.
Up at Wolves, Guardiola’s friend and rival Mikel Arteta was playing the same sad song about fixture congestion, despite his Arsenal side having played two fewer games this season than Coventry — who don’t have £50m squad players to rotate with.
Chelsea, oh Chelsea. The one-time plaything of a Russian oligarch now owned by financially incontinent venture capitalists who have piddled £1billion on a squad of players who fight like weasels in a sack about who should bask in the personal glory of scoring the penalty that puts them 5-0 up against Everton.
Read Dave Kidd’s full column as he takes aim at Nottingham Forest, Fulham’s ticket prices, the 39th game, VAR and much more…
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
