Unai Emery record: Newcastle United manager links explained - Arsenal and Villarreal signings and trophies won

Just over two weeks after Newcastle United had been taken over by the Saudi-Arabian backed consortium, it was announced that Steve Bruce had been relieved of his duties as the Newcastle manager.

The former Newcastle player was given an £8 million pay off as a result of his departure and his deputy, Graeme Jones is the club’s current manager while they have been searching for a permanent replacement.

The new owners have now made the northern club the richest club in the world and they are hoping to sign a new manager who reflects their rising status.

Portuguese manager Paulo Fonseca had initially been the bookies’ to take over Bruce’s role, while the recently ‘relieved’ Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman had also been a possibility, but it is now looking increasingly likely that former Arsenal manager Unai Emery will sign a deal with Newcastle ahead of their next fixture on Saturday.

Here is all the information on the next potential Magpies’ manager, Unai Emery

Unai Emery, the footballer

Emery was born in Hondarribia, Spain in 1971 and began his youth career at Real Sociedad in 1986.

The 49-year-old was not the only footballer in the family as both his father and grandfather were goalkeepers.

Emery was a left-sided midfielder and spent his first five professional years in the Real Sociedad B team before moving to the first team for one season in 1995. He appeared in five La Liga games and scored once agains Albacete Balompie in an 8-1 home win.

Following his minimal success with Real Sociedad’s first team, Emery spent the rest of his career in the Segunda Division with clubs including Toledo, Racing Ferrol, Leganes and finally Lorca Deportiva who were in the Segunda Division B.

In total, he made 339 appearances for his clubs and has 18 goals to his name.

He retired from playing football at the age of 32 in 2004 before moving to a managerial role within his team, Lorca Deportiva.

Unai Emery, the manager

Emery began his managerial career at Lorca Deportiva and helped the club achieve promotion to the Segunda Division for the first time in the club’s history.

In 2006 Emery moved to Almeria and guided the squad to their first ever promotion in 2007. The 2007/08 season ended with Almeria finishing eight in La Liga.

Emery then took over from Ronald Koeman as the Valencia manager in 2008. In his first season at Valencia, he led the club to qualify for the UEFA Europa League, where his team reached the Round of 32.

The club managed to return to the UEFA Champions League in their next season where they reached the quarter finals.

Emery left Valencia in 2012, after they had ended their season in third place again, and moved briefly to Spartak Moscow before returning to La Liga the following season with Sevilla.

The former midfielder was with Sevilla from 2013 to 2016 and won the UEFA Europa League every year he was there.

After announcing his desire to leave Sevilla, Emery signed a new contract with Paris Saint-Germain where he saw his greatest success as a manager.

He had a win percentage of 76.3% with the French club and picked up the Ligue 1 trophy in 2018, the Coupe de France trophy in 2017 and 2018; the Coupe de la Ligue in 2017 and 2018 as well as the Trophée des Champions in 2016 and 2017.

In November, 2019, Emery was announced as the new Arsenal Manager but only lasted 18 months. Arsenal had a series of poor results and a run of seven games with no win.

After nine months out of the game, Emery was announced as the new Villarreal manager. In 2021, Villarreal won the UEFA Europa League and were the UEFA Super cup runners up in 2021 as well.

What is Unai Emery’s managing style?

Emery has tended to favour two different formations. Sevilla saw Emery achieve great success and throughout his time at the club he relied on a 4-2-3-1 formation. However, when he moved to PSG, his most used formation changed to a 4-3-3 style which he used in 89% of his matches. Very often the 4-3-3 tactic resembled a 4-1-2-2-1 formation depending on the state of play in a match.

Unai Emery’s signings

Emery’s biggest signing in his managerial career was for Paris Saint-Germain. Brazilian footballer Neymar was bought by Unai Emery for PSG for £199.80million from Barcelona.

During Emery’s first summer at Arsenal, he was given a smaller than usual budget and it wasn’t until his following season that the Gunners made a significant purchase. Contrary to Emery’s own desires, Arsenal signed Nicolas Pepe from Lille for £72million. Emery had his sights on Crysal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha but was overruled by higher authorities within the club.

Kieran Tierney was one of Emery’s most notable success stories for Arsenal. The Scottish international has been given the label of future captain by former players, such as Ian Wright and Tony Adams as well as Arsenal’s current manager Mikel Arteta.

David Luiz was another of Emery’s signings for Arsenal and has received mixed opinions. Known for his frequent lapses in concentration, it is undeniable that he has certainly played a vital role in playing out from the back for Arsenal.

Emery’s biggest signing for his current club Villarreal has been the left-back Pervis Estupinan who was bought for £14.76million from Watford in 2020.

Unai Emery and Newcastle United

Emery’s contract with Villarreal is set to run out in 2023 meaning there would be much work to be done if he were to move to Newcastle. He is one of three managers who have been confirmed to have been in talks with the Northern side.

Eddie Howe, the former Bournemouth manager, and ex-Roma manager Paulo Fonseca have both said they have had talks with the newly elevated richest club in the world.

Following Newcastle’s recent 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace and 3-0 home defeat to Chelsea, the club will be hoping to confirm their new permanent manager as quickly as possible.

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