It’s fair to say that Unai Emery’s arrival at Aston Villa has caused waves.
The Spaniard’s move to Villa Park came almost out of nothing, with Villa seemingly looking everywhere else over the last week.
They then quickly turned their attention to the Villarreal boss yesterday, activating his €6m release clause and quickly securing his signature.
Aston Villa announced the appointment last night and Emery has since held a press conference today explaining why he has decided to take up a second job in the Premier League.
While the deal is 100% done, that’s not stopped the discussion around it, with many now wondering whether he can get Aston Villa where they want to be or if he’ll struggle like he did during at times during his spell at Arsenal.
That remains to be seen, of course, but in the meantime a slew of Spanish outlets have been having their say on the matter.
“I was surprised by both Emery’s departure and Setién’s arrival,” Álvaro Benito told Cadena SER.
“It is a great loss for the league, as it is difficult to compete against the Premier League. He is leaving for a project that remains to be seen if it consolidates, but the conditions are very good.”
That reasonable approach is one shared by Guillem Balagué, who has insisted the move is not about the money on offer.
“It’s normal that he wants to go to the Premier League to be with the best and face the best,” he told Marca.
“Is it about money? No. It’s about challenging himself and improving by showing he’s at Premiership level without a doubt.
“If he does well at Aston Villa it won’t be the last English team he’ll be at.”
The expectations for Villa will be to move up the table as quickly as possible, with it felt their expensively assembled squad should be much higher than it currently is.
Pipi Estrada, though, believes Emery will have to pull off a miracle if his time at Villa Park if he is to be considered a success. “If Emery doesn’t put Aston Villa in the Champions League, it’s a failure,” he told Marca.
That’s a little extreme given Aston Villa would have to finish ahead of several much bigger teams in the league to make the top four.
Indeed, it’s hard to believe even the club’s owners, who are extremely ambitious and have paid big for Emery to match those ambitions, have put such expectations on their new coach.
