Monchi has detailed how Unai Emery convinced him to move to Aston Villa, despite having failed to do so at Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain.
Mucho Deporte cover comments from the sporting director – now working at Espanyol – about his relationship with the Aston Villa manager.
He’s set to attend the Antonio Puerta Trophy match on October 2nd, which Aston Villa are the opponents for this year.
It is Emery’s first journey back to his former club, where he enjoyed a highly successful period working under Monchi. It was one of the club’s most successful eras thanks to the relationship that the two enjoyed.
The pair eventually reunite at Aston Villa, after years of Emery trying to convince him to join him at whatever club he was working at.
“Once I had decided to leave Roma, Unai called me about going to Arsenal,” he said.
“I was on the verge of going. But amidst the whirlwind of exchanging contracts with Arsenal, Pepe Castro called me. Just as he had helped me leave for Roma because I asked him to, I couldn’t say no to that call.
“It caused a bit of friction with Unai – because he was very excited, as was I, about me going to Arsenal – but I came to Sevilla instead. I am incredibly grateful for that second spell and that opportunity in Sevilla, even though those were four difficult, complicated years.”
Call at PSG
Emery calling Monchi to join him was no one-time occurrence. In fact, when he left Sevilla for PSG in 2016, there were similar conversations.
“Every time the season ended, it was an issue. Unai would get calls from various teams – Milan, Napoli – and in the end, we’d manage to steer him back on track,” he explained.
“Then, during that particular season – and I mention this because we’ve discussed it often – rumours about PSG started circulating.
“He didn’t pick up at first, but eventually, he did, He told me, ‘Look, Monchi, I couldn’t tell you anything because PSG told me they were working on terminating Laurent Blanc’s contract. They couldn’t say a word because it involved a huge sum of money and they had to negotiate it, so I couldn’t tell you anything. But yes, I’ve received an offer from PSG, and I’m going.’
“So, he left – no hard feelings – and we maintained our relationship. Later, he asked me to join him at PSG, then at Arsenal, and eventually, I did join him at Aston Villa.”
A different Emery
The pair did reunited at Aston Villa, where they enjoyed two solid years before Monchi decided to return to Spain.
By that point, the Emery that Monchi knew was a very different person.
“The Unai I know from Sevilla is nothing like the Unai I’ve come to know in Birmingham; he is a much better Unai, because he is someone who is always striving to improve,” he concluded.
“He is deeply inquisitive about football – obsessed with video analysis, imagery, and match preparation – and a coach who has almost always been successful.”
