Former Arsenal manager Unai Emery is reportedly one of the contenders for the Manchester United job.
The Spanish tactician is a surprise name mentioned by Sport Bild reporter Christian Falk via his official Twitter account, along with Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers, who has held some talks with the Red Devils, as we recently revealed.
Emery struggled in his previous spell in the Premier League with Arsenal, but he’s generally had an impressive career elsewhere, particularly in La Liga.
Currently in charge of Villarreal, Emery helped the club win the Europa League final against Man Utd last season, which will surely end up going down as a crucial moment that led to everything falling apart for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
TRUE? Unai Emery is expected to become another candidate for the job as new manager of @ManUtd. But: So far there should have been no contact between the club and the manager pic.twitter.com/b0wb1GVO3a
— Christian Falk (@cfbayern) November 24, 2021
TRUE? Brendan Rodgers is on the list of candidates of @ManUtd for the new manager. He has a release clause for Champions League Clubs in his contract of @LCFC pic.twitter.com/KpVavtqS3K
— Christian Falk (@cfbayern) November 24, 2021
Emery’s side beating Solskjaer’s men back in May seemed to start the team’s down-turn, and the Norwegian tactician may well have been given more time at Old Trafford if he’d succeeded in winning silverware.
United fans will no doubt have mixed feelings about this news, with someone like Rodgers perhaps seeming more suited to the role with the style of football he’s known for.
Emery may well have won trophies with teams like Villarreal and Sevilla, but his style of football at Arsenal was not popular and it’s hard to imagine it would bring him success at United either.