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Unai Emery agrees Aston Villa contract extension until 2027

Tue, Apr 23, 2024
Soccer News (AP)

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has extended his contract until 2027, the club said Tuesday.

Emery has overseen an impressive turnaround at the Premier League club, which was in danger of being relegated when he took charge last season.

Under the Spanish coach, Villa is now fourth in England's top flight and in contention for Champions League qualification. Emery has also led his team into the semifinals of the Europa Conference League.

In a summer when Liverpool, Barcelona and Bayern Munich are all looking to appoint a new coach, Emery has signed an extension to the deal he agreed in October 2022.

"We are enjoying our way together with Villa fans, the club owners, management and this great group of players that we are proud of," Emery said. "Me and the football management... we share the vision of the owners."

Emery took over from Steven Gerrard, who was fired after a run of just four wins in 22 league games spanning two seasons. He departed with Villa only above the relegation zone on goal difference.

Emery, who joined from Villarreal, led Villa to a seventh-place finish and qualified for Europe for the first time since 2010. Villa did not say at the time of his appointment in 2022 how long his original contract would run.

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"We must maintain the hard-working spirit, clever decisions and coordination with the ownership that we have found during this time," Emery said Tuesday. "Ambition already is, and must always be, the motto of this project."

The 52-year-old Emery has won four Europa League trophies - three times with Sevilla and once with Villarreal - and won the French league title with Paris Saint-Germain.

He previously coached in England with Arsenal from 2018-19.

Villa's rise under Emery had to led to speculation he could be targeted at the end of the season.

"We are thrilled and are building a sporting operation around Unai to support him with a view of returning Aston Villa, a co-founder of the English Football League as we prepare to celebrate our 150th anniversary, to its historic levels of greatness," chairman Nassef Sawiris said.

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