MADRID, 24 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Spanish coach Unai Emery stepped down as Villarreal CF coach on Monday after unilaterally terminating his contract with the Castellón team to return to the English Premier League and sign for Aston Villa.
“Coach Unai Emery has informed Villarreal CF of the unilateral decision to terminate his relationship with the entity. In this way, the Basque coach will cease to be part of the club, which he joined in the 2020-21 season, and will carry out tomorrow a farewell press conference for the exclusive fans for the media at the Ciudad Deportiva at 12:00 accompanied by the yellow board,” Villarreal said in a statement.
The ‘Yellow Submarine’ recalled that the Basque coach is part of “the history” of the entity “for becoming the first coach to win a title”, the Europa League for the 2020-2021 season, “in addition to the historic feat of the semi-finals of the Champions League last season and qualify the team for two consecutive years in European competitions”.
“Villarreal CF would like to thank Unai Emery for the work he has done and wish him luck in his sports career. The club’s Director of Football, Miguel Ángel Tena, will lead the team’s work session tomorrow, Tuesday, at 5:00 p.m. at the Ciudad Deportiva and will take over on an interim basis until the institution announces the new coach”, concluded the Castellón team.
At the same time, the English side Aston Villa, fifteenth in the Premier League and who dismissed Steven Gerrard as coach last week, confirmed the arrival of Emery, who will not be able to sit on the bench until next month “after complete the paperwork for your work permit.
In this way, the 50-year-old from Irundarra returns to the English league where he already had experience with Arsenal, whom he led to the Europa League final in his first season (2018-2019) and from which he was dismissed for months after.
After his experience with the ‘gunner’ club, Emery decided to return to LaLiga Santander, which he had left in 2016 to face the challenge of the French PSG, to direct the new Villarreal project, with whom he signed until June 2023 and where his hand It was noted with the conquest of the Europa League title in 2021 on penalties against Manchester United.
Later, he lost the European Super Cup against English Chelsea and last season he was able to reach the semifinals of the Champions League, being eliminated by Liverpool and after having left Juventus and Bayern Munich on the way. The Basque leaves Villarreal in seventh place in the table in LaLiga Santander and qualified for the next round in the Conference League.