Aston Villa considering Unai Emery to succeed sacked Steven Gerrard – report

Aston Villa (opens in new tab) intend to hold talks with former Arsenal (opens in new tab) boss Unai Emery about becoming their new head coach, according to reports.

After months of mounting pressure, Steven Gerrard finally succumbed to the sack after Thursday's dismal 3-0 defeat at Fulham (opens in new tab) – where the atmosphere in the away turned toxic as Villa fans pulled no punches in making their feelings known.

And according to Football Insider (opens in new tab), Emery – currently in charge of Villarreal (opens in new tab) – is at the top of Villa's list of options to succeed Gerrard – who lasted just under a year in the Villa Park hotseat.

Emery, was sacked by Arsenal in November 2019, before being appointed Villarreal head coach in July 2020. The Spaniard has enjoyed great success with the Yellow Submarine, guiding them to Europa League glory in 2020/21 – when they famously beat Manchester United (opens in new tab) on penalties in the final – then to last season's Champions League semi-finals, where they gave Liverpool (opens in new tab) a bit of a scare.

Having turned down an approach from Newcastle (opens in new tab) last November following the Magpies' mega-money Saudi takeover, would Emery be tempted by a return to the Premier League with Villa?

Well, he would forego European football (albeit Villarreal are only in the Europa Conference League this term) and be moving to a club with big expectations – as signified by their significant transfer outlay in recent years.

After rejecting Newcastle, Emery emphasised that he was "100% committed" (opens in new tab) to the Villarreal cause – and, while a hell of a lot can change in the space of 12 months in this game, he may well wish to stay put until his contract at La Ceramica expires next summer.