.jpg) Emery withSevilla in 2016 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Unai Emery Etxegoien[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1971-11-03)3 November 1971 (age 54)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Hondarribia, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Aston Villa (head coach) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1986–1990[2] | Real Sociedad | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1990–1995 | Real Sociedad B | 89 | (8) |
| 1995–1996 | Real Sociedad | 5 | (1) |
| 1996–2000 | Toledo | 126 | (2) |
| 2000–2002 | Racing Ferrol | 61 | (7) |
| 2002–2003 | Leganés | 28 | (0) |
| 2003–2004 | Lorca Deportiva | 30 | (1) |
| Total | 339 | (18) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2004–2006 | Lorca Deportiva | ||
| 2006–2008 | Almería | ||
| 2008–2012 | Valencia | ||
| 2012 | Spartak Moscow | ||
| 2013–2016 | Sevilla | ||
| 2016–2018 | Paris Saint-Germain | ||
| 2018–2019 | Arsenal | ||
| 2020–2022 | Villarreal | ||
| 2022– | Aston Villa | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Unai Emery Etxegoien (born 3 November 1971) is a Spanishfootballmanager and former player who is the head coach ofPremier League clubAston Villa. He is widely regarded as one of the best managers in the world.[3][4][5][6][7][8] Since 2021, he is also the majority shareholder of fourth-tier Spanish clubReal Unión.
After a career spent playing mostly in Spain'sSegunda División, Emery transitioned into coaching after retiring in 2004. He began atLorca Deportiva, where he achieved promotion to the Segunda División in his first season. He then joinedAlmería, whom he led to promotion toLa Liga for the first time in the club's history. He subsequently moved toValencia, leading the team to top-three finishes. After his contract was not renewed at Valencia, he moved toSpartak Moscow for six months but was sacked due to poor performance, before moving toSevilla in 2013, where he won an unprecedented three consecutiveEuropa Leagues.
Emery moved to French clubParis Saint-Germain in 2016. There, he won aLigue 1 title, twoCoupe de France titles, twoCoupe de la Ligues, and twoTrophée des Champions, including a domesticquadruple in his second season.[9] After the expiry of his contract, Emery was appointed as head coach of English clubArsenal in 2018, succeedingArsène Wenger. He finishedEuropa League runner-up in his first season, before being dismissed in November 2019. He was hired byVillarreal in July 2020, where he won theEuropa League in his first season and guided the club to aChampions League semi-final run in the following season. In October 2022, he returned to the Premier League to manage Aston Villa and guided them to aUEFA Conference League semi-final in 2024 and the Champions League quarter-finals a year later after successfully finishing in the top four of the Premier League.
Emery was born inHondarribia, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, Spain.[10][11] He is a native speaker of theBasque language.[12] His father and grandfather, namedJuan andAntonio respectively, were also footballers, bothgoalkeepers. The former appeared for several clubs in the second tier includingReal Unión, while the latter competed with that club in the top division.[13][14][15] Emery's uncle,Román, played as a midfielder.[16][17] In July 2021, the Emery family completed a takeover of Real Unión, and his brother Igor became club president.[18]
Emery's wife is Luisa Fernández.[19] Their son Lander, also a goalkeeper, played for Aston Villa'sUnder-21s team between January 2024 and July 2025[20][21] and currently plays for Real Unión – the third member of the Emery family to wear the goalkeeper jersey for the club.[22]
Emery, aleft-sided midfielder, was a youth graduate ofReal Sociedad, but never really broke into the first team (aged 24 he appeared in fiveLa Liga games, scoring againstAlbacete in an 8–1 home win).[23] After that, he resumed his career mostly in theSegunda División, amassing totals of 215 matches and nine goals over seven seasons. He retired withLorca Deportiva at the age of 32, afterone season inSegunda División B. In 2002, he signed forBurgos but was one of several players released before making a single competitive appearance due to lack of funds.[24]
Emery suffered a serious knee injury while at Lorca in the2004–05 season, and he was offered the vacant coach's position by the club president. He immediately helped the club achieve promotion to the second division for the first time in its history,[13] as well as beating top-level sideMálaga in theCopa del Rey. He was subsequently awarded theMiguel Muñoz Trophy as coach of the season. Inhis second season, theMurcians' first ever in the second division, the team finished fifth with 69 points, only five points off promotion to the top flight;[25] they suffered relegationin 2007, after Emery's departure.
Emery then moved toAlmería in division two,[26] and again helped his squad overachieve: after guiding them to afirst ever promotion in 2007,[27] theAndalusian side finished eighth in La Liga in2007–08.[28] This prompted a move toValencia, where he succeededRonald Koeman as coach.[29]
In2008–09, his first season withLos Che, Emery led them to a sixth-place finish, with subsequent qualification to theUEFA Europa League, in spite of the club's serious financial problems. The team reached the Round of 32 in theUEFA Cup, losing onaway goals after a 3–3 aggregate draw againstDynamo Kyiv, and the quarter-finals of theCopa del Rey, exiting againstSevilla.
In2009–10, Emery led Valencia to third place, so the club returned to theUEFA Champions League after two years. After dropping down toEuropa League (previously known as UEFA Cup), they lost in the quarter-finals to eventual winnersAtlético Madrid onaway goals, and exited in the round of 16 in theCopa del Rey againstDeportivo La Coruña, losing 4–3 on aggregate. In May 2010, Emery renewed his contract for another year.[30]
2010–11 started withoutDavid Villa andDavid Silva, sold toBarcelona andManchester City respectively. Despite this, Valencia won five out of the first six league games (with one draw), starting theChampions League campaign with a 4–0 win in Turkey againstBursaspor,[31] before being eliminated in the round of 16 bySchalke 04, and being knocked out in the same stage in theCopa del Rey byVillarreal. In the domestic league, the side finished third, thus again qualifying for the Champions League.
In2011–12, Emery's side entered theChampions League and were paired withChelsea,Bayer Leverkusen andKRC Genk. They finished third in their group and subsequently entered theEuropa League. Valencia lost in the semi-finals to eventual winnersAtlético Madrid again. He left the club in June 2012, after again finishing third in2011–12, ensuring Valencia's qualification forChampions League.[32]
On 1 July 2012,Leonid Fedun, owner ofSpartak Moscow, announced Emery as the Russian club's coach for the following two seasons.[33] On 25 November, he was sacked after a run of poor results, after only managing the side for six months. His last game in charge was a 5–1 home loss in thederby againstDynamo Moscow.[34]
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Emery returned to Spanish football on 14 January 2013, replacing the sackedMíchel at the helm of Sevilla.[35] He led the club to fifth position in2013–14, his first full season. On 14 May 2014, he won theEuropa League final, defeatingBenfica onpenalties.[36]
After finishing the2014–15 season in fifth place, one point behind former club Valencia, Emery againwon the Europa League after defeatingDnipro Dnipropetrovsk,[37] thus qualifying for thefollowing Champions League.[38] The victory meant that Sevilla became the most successful club in the history of the UEFA Cup/Europa League, with four wins,[39] and Emery signed a one-year contract extension on 5 June 2015 which would have kept him at the club until 2017, after reported interest fromWest Ham United andNapoli.[40]
In2015–16, Emery led Sevilla to seventh position, having played the final games of the domestic league with several reserves and youth team players after the team confirmed their place in theEuropa League final.[41][42] This season, Sevilla entered theUEFA Champions League group stage as title holders ofUEFA Europa League the previous season, they were third in the group and transferred toUEFA Europa League again. On 18 May 2016, despite trailing 1–0 at half-time, a goal fromKevin Gameiro and two fromCoke resulted in a 3–1 victory overLiverpool atSt. Jakob-Park in Basel.[43]
On 12 June 2016, after Emery expressed his desire to leave Sevilla, the club announced that they would be parting ways.[44]
On 28 June 2016, Emery signed a two-year deal, with the option of a third, to succeedLaurent Blanc at French quadruple-holdersParis Saint-Germain.[45] In his first competitive match in charge, on 6 August, his side beatLyon 4–1 in Austria to lift theTrophée des Champions.[46]
Emery picked up his second honour withles Rouge-et-Bleu on 1 April 2017 with a 4–1 win over title rivalsMonaco inthe final of theCoupe de la Ligue.[47] Emery led PSG to second place in their group of theChampions League, behindArsenal. In the first knockout round they defeatedBarcelona 4–0 at theParc des Princes,[48] only tohistorically lose 6–1 in Spain and subsequently be eliminated.[49]
In the nextChampions League season, PSG finished top of their group, in which Emery led them to a 3–0 win overBayern Munich in the second match.[50] However, they were knocked out in the round of 16, as they lost both legs by the eventual winnerReal Madrid.[51] Domestically, the team won a quadruple of all four domestic honours:Trophée des Champions,Coupe de la Ligue,Coupe de France andLigue 1.[52] On 28 April 2018, Emery announced his decision to leave the Parisian club at the end of the season with a year left on his contract.[53] He was replaced by German coachThomas Tuchel at PSG following the conclusion of the 2017–18 season.[54]
On 23 May 2018, Emery was appointed head coach ofArsenal.[55] He agreed to a two-year deal, with the club having the option to extend his deal for a further year.[56]
In his first competitive game in charge, on 12 August, his side lost toManchester City 2–0 in thePremier League.[57] After a second consecutive loss toChelsea on 18 August,[58] Emery recorded his first win as Arsenal manager on 25 August, in a 3–1 home win overWest Ham United.[59] After this game, Arsenal won 11 games in a row, their best run of form since 2007.[60] Arsenal then extended their unbeaten run to 22 games, including a 4–2 win over arch-rivalsTottenham Hotspur in Emery's firstNorth London derby.[61] Their 3–2 loss to Southampton in December was the first time they had been defeated in all competitions since August.[62] However Arsenal capitulated towards the end of the season, only receiving four points in their last five league matches, effectively discarding any chance of qualifying for theChampions League through league position.[63] Emery yet again reached aEuropa League final,[64] but was unsuccessful as Arsenal were beaten 4–1 by fellow English side Chelsea.[65] Arsenal finished the season in fifth position, one place higher than the previous season, narrowly missing out on a Champions League spot.[66]
In the 2019 summer transfer window, Emery broke Arsenal's previous club record by signing Ivory Coast wingerNicolas Pépé.[67] He also brought into the defenceDavid Luiz from rivals Chelsea and ScotsmanKieran Tierney fromCeltic, as well as midfielderDani Ceballos on loan from Real Madrid.[68]
On 29 November 2019, following a series of poor results and a winless run of seven games, Emery was sacked by Arsenal.[69][70] His final game in charge was a 2–1 home defeat toEintracht Frankfurt in theEuropa League.[71] He was replaced on an interim basis byFreddie Ljungberg and later on a permanent basis byMikel Arteta.
On 23 July 2020, Emery was announced as the new head coach of La Liga clubVillarreal, succeedingJavier Calleja on a three-year deal.[72] On 23 December, he broke the club record of 18 matches unbeaten, after a 1–1 draw at home toAthletic Bilbao.[73]
In May 2021, he led Villarreal to their firstEuropean final, after a 2–1 win on aggregate over his former club Arsenal in the semi-finals;[74] he was the first ex-Gunners boss to beat his former team sinceGeorge Graham in 1999.[75] On 26 May, Villarreal won theEuropa League final againstManchester United inGdańsk, 11–10 on penalties after a 1–1 draw, to give him his fourth and a record win in the competition.[76][77]
In November 2021, Emery was approached for the vacant managerial spot atNewcastle United following theirSaudi-led takeover. He turned down the interest, saying that he was "100% committed" to Villarreal and that the English team had a "lack of a clear vision".[78] In the2021–22 UEFA Champions League, he led Villarreal to the semi-finals by beatingJuventus and Bayern Munich, before being eliminated byLiverpool.[79]
On 24 October 2022, Emery was appointed as head coach ofAston Villa after thePremier League team paid a buyout fee of a reported €6 million (£5.2 million) to Villarreal.[80] Due to work permit formalities, he did not take up his post until 1 November,[81] with Villa having only won two of their first eleven games under previous managerSteven Gerrard before his sacking,[82] and sitting in 16th place in the league table, two places above the relegation zone with only a point separating Villa from the relegation places.[83] Upon taking charge, he appointedPako Ayestarán as his assistant manager, reuniting with the coach he had worked alongside at Valencia.[84] On 6 November, Emery won his first match in charge with a 3–1 win over Manchester United, Villa's first home Premier League victory against United since August 1995.[85] His team were eliminated from the third round of the FA Cup 2–1 at home byEFL League Two teamStevenage on 8 January 2023. He criticised the mentality of his players after the game.[86]
Villa would win fifteen of their twenty-five league games under Emery and 49 points from a possible 75 since his appointment during the 2022–23 campaign,[87] with only Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool securing more points since Emery's appointment.[88] A 1–1 draw withBrentford on 22 April 2023 at theBrentford Community Stadium, Emery's nineteenth league game in charge at Villa, saw the team break the Premier League record for the longest consecutive scoring run a team has had from the start of a manager's tenure in the competition's history.[89] A 1–0 victory overFulham three days later stretched the new record to twenty consecutive games, before a 1–0 loss to Manchester United on 30 April 2023 ended the run.[90] Five wins, one draw and one defeat in April 2023 led to Emery being awardedPremier League Manager of the Month.[91]
A 1–1 draw with Liverpool on 20 May guaranteed a ninth-placed finish, Villa's highest in the Premier League since the 2010–11 season.[92] Villa secured a 7th-place finish and qualification for theUEFA Europa Conference League, the club's first participation in European football since the 2010–11 season and Emery's sixteenth consecutive season of European football.[93] Many sports journalists and pundits praised Emery's transformation of Villa in such a short space of time, and Emery was nominated for thePremier League Manager of the Season Award. The recipient of the award,Pep Guardiola, also acknowledged Emery in his acceptance speech, along with the other nominees, for each's "incredible job this season".[94]
A 3–0 win against Newcastle United on 15 April 2023 saw Villa win five Premier League games in a row for the first time since 1998,[95] and victory at Villa Park against Brighton on the final matchday not only meantThe Villans' first time winning seven consecutive league games at home since the1992–93 season,[96][97] but also their eighteenth league win of the season, the fifteenth under Emery, for their joint-most league wins in a 38-game season.[98]
_04.jpg)
The summer of 2023 also saw major changes in Aston Villa's infrastructure as Sevilla's sporting directorMonchi, who had previously worked with Emery, was appointed as President of Football Operations, as well as Damian Vidagany as Director of Football Operations.[99][100] Aston Villa signedPau Torres fromVillarreal for a reported £33m,[101] andMoussa Diaby fromBayer Leverkusen for an undisclosed fee.[102] with many outlets reporting the fee to be in excess of £50m and shattering Villa's previous transfer record.[103]
After a 5–1 defeat toNewcastle United atSt James' Park in their opening fixture of the2023–24 season,[104] Emery would lead Villa to their highest Premier League points total after 19 games, the season's midpoint.[105] Emery's Villa maintained a 100% record in their first eight home games of the season for the first time since the1932–33 season,[106] and a 1–0 victory against Arsenal on 9 December was their fifteenth consecutive home league win, going back to 4 March, the most in the club's 149-year history.[107] Aston Villa won five of seven games in December 2023, including back-to-back wins againstManchester City andArsenal, which led to Emery being named Premier League Manager of the Month for the second time in his career.[108]
In the Conference League, Villa beatAjax 4–0 on aggregate in the round of 16,[109] and thenLille on penalties to reach a first European semi-final since 1982.[110] On 23 April, Emery extended his contract until 2027.[111] He eventually led the club to a 4th-place finish in the league, securing qualification to the UEFA Champions League for the first time since 1982–83.[112] On 27 May 2024, Emery extended his contract until 2029.[113]
| Team | From | To | Record | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Lorca Deportiva | 21 December 2004 | 22 June 2006 | 70 | 34 | 16 | 20 | 048.57 | [115] |
| Almería | 22 June 2006 | 22 May 2008 | 84 | 39 | 20 | 25 | 046.43 | [116] |
| Valencia | 22 May 2008 | 14 May 2012 | 220 | 107 | 58 | 55 | 048.64 | [117] |
| Spartak Moscow | 1 July 2012 | 25 November 2012 | 26 | 12 | 4 | 10 | 046.15 | [118] |
| Sevilla | 14 January 2013 | 12 June 2016 | 205 | 106 | 43 | 56 | 051.71 | [119] |
| Paris Saint-Germain | 28 June 2016 | 14 May 2018 | 114 | 87 | 15 | 12 | 076.32 | [120] |
| Arsenal | 23 May 2018 | 29 November 2019 | 78 | 43 | 16 | 19 | 055.13 | [121] |
| Villarreal | 23 July 2020 | 25 October 2022 | 129 | 66 | 32 | 31 | 051.16 | [122] |
| Aston Villa | 1 November 2022 | Present | 177 | 99 | 30 | 48 | 055.93 | [123] |
| Total | 1,103 | 593 | 234 | 276 | 053.76 | |||
Sevilla
Paris Saint-Germain
Arsenal
Villarreal
Individual
Unai Emery is, at least now, considered one of the world's best managers within football.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
