By OkayGoal
The manager Manchester United keep being linked with is close to committing his long-term future to Aston Villa, and the timing could hardly be sharper, with Villa due at Old Trafford on Sunday.
According to the BBC, Unai Emery is close to agreeing a contract extension that would also hand him even more responsibility for the club’s long-term development. He is already under contract until 2029, and the new deal would run beyond that.
Emery held talks with the Aston Villa hierarchy on Wednesday, and every side is said to be keen to extend his time at Villa Park. The fine details, the finances and the length of the deal are still being worked through, and the plan is to announce it only once everything is agreed, which is unlikely to be before the weekend.
What did Aston Villa say?
The club went public with the meeting on Wednesday night. Emery sat down with chairman Nassef Sawiris, president of football operations Roberto Olabe and director of football operations Damián Vidagany to plan what Villa called the next phase of the project.
Villa’s statement said: “The discussions focused on jointly planning the club’s long-term strategic direction, with positive discussions establishing a clear commitment beyond 2029 for the joint development of the club under the sporting leadership of Unai Emery based on the shared ambitions and common goal to reach excellency and keep growing during the next years.”
It added: “The objective is clear: to build an ambitious, competitive Aston Villa capable of taking on the biggest challenges and achievements.”
Why does the Manchester United link keep coming up?
Emery has been mentioned as an option for Manchester United should they sack Michael Carrick. Carrick has had his own ups and downs lately, including a comeback win over Roma after going two goals down in the Champions League, and Sunday’s game at Old Trafford (16:30 GMT) now has an extra layer to it.
Villa have been touchy about the subject. Last month they threatened Jamie Carragher with legal action after the pundit suggested Emery would be a good choice if United were looking for a new manager, with Carragher also telling Villa fans to “shut up”. The club dropped the threat after he apologised.
How has Emery changed Villa?
Emery arrived from Villarreal in 2022 and celebrated four years at the club last month. He took over a side in a relegation fight and has qualified for Europe in every season since, finishing fourth in the Premier League and winning the Europa League in May, Villa’s first major trophy in 30 years.
This season has been harder. Much of the spine of that team was sold in a tumultuous summer, and Villa are 10th in the Premier League. They have still won three of their four Champions League games, even after a 3-0 defeat at Barcelona on Tuesday.
October was his best month of the campaign. Villa went unbeaten in the league with a 2-2 draw against Brentford, a 1-0 win at Newcastle, a 2-1 win that handed Manchester City their first league defeat and a 1-1 draw with Fulham. That run has earned Emery a nomination for Premier League Manager of the Month, against Mikel Arteta, Roberto De Zerbi, Fabian Hürzeler and Marco Rose, with the winner announced on 13 November.
Is Emery to Man United now off the table?
As good as. A manager who wanted out would not be sitting down with his chairman to plan the club’s direction beyond 2029, and Villa would not be putting that commitment in writing if they feared he was about to leave. Giving him more say over the long-term project is the clearest sign yet that both sides see this as his club to build.
For United, it removes one of the obvious names if they do decide to change manager. For Villa, it means a summer of heavy sales has not shaken the most important relationship at the club, and that matters more than any single result this season.