Emery Set for Villa Deal Worth Nearly Double His Joining Salary

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Unai Emery has agreed a new Aston Villa contract that makes him one of the two best paid managers in the Premier League, per Daily Mail Sport, and Villa have not announced a deal.
He joined Villa on just under £10million a year and the new salary would be close to double that.
Emery was on a five-man shortlist to replace Michael Carrick at Manchester United, but is understood to have been unlikely to move to Old Trafford even without the contract discussions.

Why Emery Has the Control Guardiola Enjoyed at City

Aston Villa hope Unai Emery will become their answer to Sir Alex Ferguson, but when he planned this stage of his career the Spaniard had a different boss in mind. Emery is understood to have agreed a new contract that makes him one of the two best paid managers in the Premier League, and with it he has the sort of structure Pep Guardiola enjoyed for a decade at Manchester City. Emery regards Guardiola as the world’s best coach and admires his refusal to compromise on his vision for a club. He has adopted those principles at every step in the Midlands, leading Villa from the bottom half of the table to the Champions League.

A Shortlist Name Who Would Not Have Gone

Villa had no need to rush. About two-and-a-half years remained on Emery’s previous deal, so co-owner Nassef Sawiris could have waited. The early extension is a show of faith and a response to the current climate.

United sacked Carrick on Thursday. Emery was on that five-man shortlist, yet the understanding is that he was unlikely to have gone to Old Trafford anyway. The reason is control. Studying Guardiola convinced Emery that a manager cannot operate with limited influence over recruitment or no say in senior appointments, and United were highly unlikely to have granted him either. At Villa he answers only to the ownership group. The idea of Emery at United had already caused a row, when Jamie Carragher pushed him as a future United manager on The Overlap, Villa threatened legal action over insults to the club and its fans, and Carragher apologised to Villa the next day.

Hires, Hotels and a Stadium on Hold

Unlike at many clubs, where the chairman or chief executive brings in the sporting director, Emery has driven the key hires at Villa. Director of football operations Damian Vidagany moved to Villa with Emery in 2022 and was a key reason Emery accepted the job. Emery also pushed for Monchi to be brought in as president of football operations, and when that went wrong he was allowed to select the next man, Roberto Olabe. Olabe has so far been much better than his predecessor, whose dire record in the market saw him ditched a little more than a year ago.

The Emery and Sawiris connection took shape in the autumn of 2022, weeks before Emery was hired. Sawiris could see the Steven Gerrard experiment was failing, and he looked at Mauricio Pochettino, Thomas Tuchel and Emery. Emery had come through a difficult experience at Arsenal, where he felt he never had this level of influence in 18 months, and Sawiris assured him he would have the run of Villa. Emery spoke about talks over a new deal last Friday, after a meeting with key figures at Villa including Sawiris a few days earlier. “We were speaking about how we can set our project stronger with a (new) deal, yes,” Emery said. “Nassef is very ambitious, a hard worker and his commitment to the club is huge. It’s easy for me to have meetings with him as normally we are on the same page.”

Sawiris has been as good as his word. The stadium redevelopment planned for 2024 was shelved as Emery did not wish to play Champions League games in a three-sided ground, and a 40-room hotel at the training ground was signed off on his say-so. Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio arrived on loan at huge expense in January 2025 to deliver Champions League football, which did not happen, and there was no blowback for Emery.

The Money League Phone and the Selling Plan

At the end of last Friday’s press conference, Emery was asked if he could lift Villa to the level of Europe’s giants. He skipped the usual platitudes and reached for the Deloitte Money League, which ranks clubs by revenue. Emery grabbed his phone, found the page and confirmed that Villa had risen to 14th in the 2024-25 list.

Emery has made a definite shift in recent seasons. He now understands that, given Villa’s financial needs, part of his job is to sign promising players, raise their value and then, potentially, sell them for double the fee. This summer Villa sold Morgan Rogers, Ezri Konsa, Youri Tielemans and Ollie Watkins for a combined £253m. They were signed for a total of £48m. Zion Suzuki and Johan Manzambi, two of the summer additions, look like candidates to follow.

What Comes Next for Villa

The season began slowly, but Villa are six league games unbeaten, back in the top half and three points off the top five. They sit sixth in the Champions League league phase with three wins from four. Emery dreams of winning the Champions League, and last week he made a strong case that he could do it at Villa, citing Leicester winning the Premier League and his own run with Villarreal to the Champions League semi-finals in 2022.

The unknown is how Emery will feel in two or three years if Villa slip out of contention. Financial regulations and the stadium rebuild would make it no shock, and no disgrace, if they finished outside the top five for the next couple of seasons. By investing so heavily in Emery, Sawiris believes he is giving them a proper shot, a chance that began when Villa sealed their Champions League return last season.

WRITTEN BY

George Howson

George Howson is a Futbol Chronicle contributor and accredited journalist with over 20 years of experience following international football. A member of the AIPS International Sports Press Association, George has covered matches at stadiums around the world, bringing deep knowledge and first-hand insight to every match report and analysis he writes.